Ted Cruz courts gay voters. Seriously

By Richard Barry

Earlier in the day I wrote about the consistent movement of Americans in the direction of embracing same-sex marriage and the likelihood that Republican presidential hopefuls will begin to understand that they will have to soften their rhetoric as they defend "traditional marriage."

I'll grant that it's a somewhat obvious point, but it's still gratifying to see support for an observation be so quickly forthcoming.

The New York Times:

Senator Ted Cruz has positioned himself as a strong opponent of same-sex marriage, urging pastors nationwide to preach in support of marriage as an institution between a man and a woman, which he said was “ordained by God.”

But on Monday night, at a reception for him at the Manhattan apartment of two prominent gay hoteliers, the Texas senator and Republican presidential hopeful struck quite a different tone.

During the gathering, according to two people present, Mr. Cruz said he would not love his daughters any differently if one of them was gay. He did not mention his opposition to same-sex marriage, saying only that marriage is an issue that should be left to the states.

The article went on to state that one of the gay men in attendance was a strong supporter of Sen. Cruz's foreign policy, particularly on Israel. He was described as a businessman so may well also have a conservative view of economics. He then said that he "did not agree with the senator on social issues. Same-sex marriage, he said, 'is done — it’s just going to happen.'"

Politics is a complex affair. Voters hold a range of views, which are usually only imperfectly reflected in any given candidate. Voters who may strongly support same-sexy marriage will obviously believe all kinds of things on all kinds of other issues, and may decide they can live with Ted Cruz, or someone much like him, as long as they don't perceive him as too big a jerk.

On the point, as the Times notes,  Mr. Cruz had previously written to a group of ministers: 

"Will we discard an institution, ordained by God, which has brought so much stability and happiness to the human family? Or will we stand in its support?”

But he never said anything like that last Monday night.