Procrastinet

Dick's Daughter

filed under: Idle Chatter

I'm having a strange moment as a blogger. I'm thinking something, and believing it to be clear as day, and I can't find anybody else talking about it. "I feel like I've taken CRAZY PILLS..."

To me (as I talked about in the liveblog), the decisive moment last night came during the discussion of the Gay Marriage Amendment. Edwards reminded all the viewers, under cover of compassion, that Dick Cheney's own daughter is a lesbian. He went on to talk about the difficulties that homosexuals have, even after lifetime commitments, in attending to basic human dignities like hospital visits and funeral arrangements. The rebuttal went to Cheney... who declined. He thanked Senator Edwards for the kind comments about his family. Gwen Ifill, stunned, asked if that was all. "That's all," said Cheney.

I've read some people spinning this as a classy light touch from Cheney - Olbermann puts it down as his "Major feel-good moment." But I didn't see a guy being classy - I saw a guy who was faced with a decision: toe the party line, and serve as attack dog on an issue he clearly doesn't believe in, which puts his own daughter into constitutional second-class citizenship; or step down from the fight.

The entire tone of the debate, and Cheney's participation in it, changed at that moment. He continued to execute, landing plenty of punches, but it was dispirited. Kos quotes the LA Times saying "As the evening wore on, Cheney's chin sank down his chest, his gravelly voice turned into an inarticulate rumble and he even started passing up opportunities to talk at all."

I don't think that happened "as the evening wore on." I think it turned on a dime, when Dick had to decide if he was the kind of man who could toss his daughter as red meat to the base.

He also has to have realized, as a master practitioner of dirty politics, that Edwards had knifed him between the ribs, by (a) reminding viewers that Cheney's daughter is gay, and (b) humanizing her more than Cheney would ever be allowed to. Who knows how long it will last, but it took the fight out of the old man.

UPDATE: I've emailed Andrew Sullivan, who of all the commentariat seems most likely - as a right-leaning gay man - to be interested in this. I'm frankly not used to posting political thoughts that I can't find echoed anywhere. I'm wondering if perhaps Mr. Sullivan saw it this way, too.

Posted by rjt at October 6, 2004 12:25 PM