经济学人下载:幸福婚姻在美国

Attitudes like Mrs Bachmann’s may do her little harm with the Republican base, but strike parts of the wider electorate as antiquated or downright bigoted. That may be why Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York who ran for the presidency in 2008 and may yet do so again, has warned fellow Republicans to “get the heck out of people’s bedrooms”. It could also explain why Rick Perry, the governor of Texas now pondering a presidential run of his own, says that he has no quarrel with New York’s new law. Pleading the tenth (states’ rights) amendment, he argues that New York’s stand on gay marriage is its own business.

在共和党内，巴赫曼所持的这类看法于她来说无伤大雅，但走出共和党阵营，她还要面对广泛选民，而在一部分人看来，她的观点过于守旧，或者说是无比顽固。这也就是为什么前纽约市市长朱利安尼提醒共和党人，不要瞎搀和人家家卧室里的私事。朱利安尼曾于2008年竞选总统，这次他可能还将参选。正考虑参选下届总统的德克萨斯州州长裴礼表示，自己对于纽约州承认同性婚姻没有什么意见，同样也是出于这个道理。裴礼搬出了《美国宪法第10修正案》（第10修正案保护各州的权利），坚称纽约州对于同性婚姻持有什么立场完全是他们自己的事情。

In point of fact, neither Mr Giuliani nor Mr Perry favours gay marriage. Mr Giuliani says civil unions are good enough for gays. Mr Perry has not only been a vehement opponent of gay marriage but also gone so far as to defend Texas’s anti-sodomy law, which the Supreme Court has ruled to be unconstitutional. Such men have their beliefs, but they are also seasoned politicians. They can see which way the national mood is blowing.

事实上，朱利安尼和裴礼二人都不赞同同性婚姻。朱利安尼认为同性伴侣民事结合就足够了。而裴礼之前不仅强烈反对同性婚姻，甚至还捍卫德克萨斯州的《反鸡奸法》，而美国最高法院裁定《反鸡奸法》违宪。这些人有自己的主见，但是同时，他们又是颇为老练的政客。他们清楚民意所向。