经济学人下载:美国佬的幸福婚姻

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.

在共和党阵营中，巴赫曼所持的这类看法对她来说并无大碍，可对公众而言，她这种守旧或是彻底顽固不化的形象也让她痛失部分选民的支持，这也许就是前纽约市市长朱利安尼提醒共和党人，别搀和人家房事的原因。朱利安尼曾在2008年参与总统竞选，而这次可能会继续参与对总统职位的角逐。同样这也许是正考虑参选下届总统的德克萨斯州州长裴礼声称自己对于纽约州的同性婚姻法没什么意见的原因。裴礼以《美国宪法第10修正案》（第10修正案保护各州的权利依据认为纽约州对于同性婚姻态度如何是他们自己的事。

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成同性婚姻。朱利安尼认为民事结合对同性伴侣而言就足够了。而裴礼之前不仅曾强烈反对同性婚姻，甚至还强硬到维护德克萨斯州的《反鸡奸法》，而《反鸡奸法》已被美国最高法院裁定违宪。这些人虽然有自己的见解，但他们也是老道的政客。他们很清楚什么时候该见风使舵，顺应民意。