海角大神

He surely didn鈥檛 plan it this way, but the announcement by US Sen. Rob Portman (R) of Ohio that he now supports same-sex marriage highlighted the Conservative Political Action Conference鈥檚 difficulty with one of the most contentious political issues.

Some at the three-day CPAC meeting of conservative activists and prominent Republicans hit gay marriage head-on.

"Just because I believe that states should have the right to define marriage in a traditional way does not make me a bigot," US Sen. Marco Rubio (R) of Florida told a cheering crowd.

鈥淲e cannot hope to limit government if we do not stand up for our core civil society institutions, beginning with marriage,鈥� said former Sen. Jim DeMint (R) of South Carolina, now president of the conservative Heritage Foundation.

"People can love whom they want and live the way they choose," Mr. DeMint said, "but no one is entitled to redefine a foundational institution of civil society that has existed for centuries."

鈥淲hat we need is people standing up more than ever for marriage as between a man and a woman,鈥� Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, told one panel discussion.

But another panel at the CPAC convention site 鈥� this one unofficial and titled 鈥淎 Rainbow on the Right: Growing the coalition, bringing tolerance out of the closet鈥� 鈥� heard a different message.

聽鈥淎s a society we should in some way encourage people to live in the institution of marriage when they can,鈥� Jonah Goldberg, editor at large for the conservative National Review, told the group. 鈥淏esides, it鈥檚 a free society and they should be free to form whatever associations they want.鈥�

Sen. Portman鈥檚 change of heart on same-sex marriage came when his college-age son told his family that he鈥檚 gay.

Although some observers wondered why it took a personal situation in Portman鈥檚 family (as it did with former vice president Dick Cheney), the move has been welcomed by advocates of gay marriage.

New York Times columnist Frank Bruni (who is gay) called Portman鈥檚 announcement 鈥減rofoundly emblematic.鈥�

鈥淐oming right after the widely publicized聽amicus brief聽in favor of gay marriage that dozens of prominent Republicans signed, Portman鈥檚 remarks illustrate a rapid movement by, and rising tension within, a party that has largely allied itself with social conservatives and is bit by bit breaking with them on this issue,鈥� Mr. Bruni blogged on the newspaper鈥檚 web site.

(Bruni鈥檚 鈥渁micus鈥� reference is to the more than 100 conservatives and Republicans who recently filed a friend of the court brief in the DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) case before the Supreme Court,聽among them former governors,聽GOP聽administration senior officials, prominent right-leaning pundits, and actor Clint Eastwood.)

CPAC organizers had excluded GOProud, the gay Republican group, and pointedly did not invite another gay group 鈥� Log Cabin Republicans 鈥� to take part in the three-day event.

Gregory Angelo, executive director of Log Cabin Republicans, acknowledges that 鈥渢he American Conservative Union [which organizes CPAC] is free to do what it likes 鈥� as conservatives, we understand that is their right.鈥�

But he points to a new poll showing that most Republicans under age 30 support same-sex marriage, even though the number for all Republicans still is much less than that.

In fact, as Maggie Haberman writes in Politico, 鈥淪ame-sex marriage is no longer the winning issue it was for the GOP less than a decade ago, when George W. Bush was running for re-election and a generation of younger voters had not yet come of age.鈥�

At CPAC, the RealClearPolitics online news organization interviewed young attendees about same-sex marriage.

鈥淕ay marriage isn鈥檛 a big issue to me 鈥� I think it should be fine,鈥� said Brian Devlin, 18. 鈥淩epublicans are about government staying out and people having their own choices, and that鈥檚 why I鈥檓 pro-gay marriage.鈥�

Megan O鈥橠ean, 19, said she hopes other prominent Republicans follow Portman鈥檚 lead in supporting same-sex marriage.

鈥淚 feel like when people have issues with the Republican Party, that鈥檚 what they focus on 鈥撀爂ay marriage and stuff like that,鈥� she explained. 鈥淎nd it gives a negative view because there鈥檚 more to the Republican Party than that.鈥澛�

In a Daily Caller column Friday Mr. Angelo of the Log Cabin Republicans warned that 鈥渋f the ACU continues to pursue a mantra of exclusion and use CPAC to showcase individuals who believe gay conservatives have no business being a part of the greater conservative movement, they should know they do so at their own peril 鈥� and at the cost of alienating the next generation of American conservatives.