Sure it’s not a heart attack? better get it checked out tomorrow.
It’s hard to trust conservatives or Republicans on any issue because they change their mind so much, which leads me to believe they make public statements that are contrary to their actual beliefs.
For example, during the CPAC conference last week, and in the news cycle that followed, Reince Priebus, chairman of the GOP, detailed the GOP’s ‘post-mortem’ on their recent election losses.
About gay marriage he said "I know what our principles are, I know our party believes marriage is between one man and one woman…but I also know our party’s going to be inclusive, and it’s going to listen to people and it’s going to allow for differences in our party.” He went on to address Rob Portman’s change of stance on gay marriage, which changed dramatically following his own son’s ‘coming out’.
And then, very quickly, Prebius was forced to ‘walk back’ his weakly supportive statement and reiterate that the party was officially “pro-(straight only) marriage”. The party platform supports that position as well.
One conservative made a strongly supportive statement and another conservative a weakly supportive statement which he had to clarify, and utimatly, nothing much changed.
So, while a small number of conservatives may be in support of same sex marriage, the official party line and most of the members do not support the issue.
Eh, on this issue, everyone’s fumbling around for the “right” thing to say. Since voter preferences are changing so quickly, politicians are scrambling for just the right phrase to indicate that they of course agree with their constituents, but, you know, they’re open to reconsidering, should their constituency change.
Here are some of President Obama’s statements on same sex marriage. Not exactly a clear and unwavering message, although one could read between the lines. Was he making statements contrary to his actual beliefs? I think so. I think he was clearly in favor of same sex marriage all along, but realized that hedging was the right move politically.
The Republican establishment will come around, too, as the bigots die off, and as they are forced into inclusiveness to remain relevant.
Why would anyone oppose same sex marriage. It seems irrational to outlaw same sex marriage because that basically translates to, “I am taking away your right to marry because you are gay.” Intolerant much?
Remember now, being gay isn’t something you can chose, you just are. By outlawing same sex marriage, you are implying that in order to marry, you must be straight.
And I am not gay rights activist either.
I wish this was true but i think it is a lot more accurate to say that the people opposing gay marriage are dying off and being replaced by growing supporters.
That is certainly part of it but public opinion is also changing rapidly. I think more minds are being changed than oldsters are dying.
Yep. Gallup has support for same-sex marriage increasing from 42% in 2006 to 53% in 2011. The death rate in the U.S. is only .008%
I’m a moderate libertarian, which you may or may not consider conservative, and I changed my mind on this issue a few years back. There does seem to be a broad change happening on this issue, and not just a demographic one.
It appears that knowing a gay person is a significant predictor of support, so all those coming out of the closet years ago when it was risky and making it safer have performed a real service.
0.8% surely, I’d really wonder what kind of demographics a country with a 0.008% death rate would have. 
If I were a prominent Republican elected official and not Yog Sosoth, uber liberal, I would say that while I have my own views on the subject, they are private and not open to discussion with anyone. I will, however, vote how my constituents want, and they need to make it known to me what they support.
Of course we elect officials to do the voting for us because we like or trust their decisions, but at this point, I think I would throw this issue out to my constituents themselves. Basically, I’m letting them put my vote in Congress to a popular vote. I’ll hold a poll, town halls, whatever, and tell people that they need to let me know how I should vote and that no matter what I believe in, I’ll vote the way they tell me to. That way, there’s less recourse for them to say I’m some RINO who isn’t conservative, or other BS like that. If it fails, I’ll tell them its their fault
At one very cynical level for the political class - it’s because it’s a wedge issue. Wedge issues serve a couple of purposes, they get people to donate money to your cause, and they get a small percentage of people to the polls who might not otherwise show up. So, by continuing to oppose same sex marriage you harvest money and votes.
In my youth I would have considered your question nonsensical, because gay people were quasi-demonic God-hating perverts and pederasts. I knew this because adults I trusted told me so and I’d certainly never met a gay person to tell me otherwise (as it turned out later of course I did, but in that environment they didn’t, you know, advertise).
I’m older now and in favor of gay marriage, but there’s still plenty out there who believe what I used to. Don’t be so surprised that there is opposition. Although I agree it seems to be dying out.
My die hard republican, “Obama is an islamo-facist,” peach of a father changed his mind about SSM. I’m so proud of him!
I gotta tell ya, it takes a lot of guts to say something like that 'round here. You’re going to catch hell on the SDMB for that, son. Just you wait.
I changed my mind, too. For me, it was more of a logical appeal than an emotional one. For one thing, I may be straight, but I don’t like the government telling me who I can and can’t marry. How dare they restrict my right to marry a man if I want to, even though I don’t want to? For two, homophobes should be pro-gay marriage, I think. If you think gay people (let’s be honest here, we mean gay men) are promiscuous, perverted sinners, wouldn’t you want them settled down and ‘confined’ like a normal, red-blooded, straight, American couple?
Besides, even the Bible commands that we permit gay marriage:
1 Corinthians 7:
5…Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 I say this as a concession, not as a command. 7 I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that. 8 Now to the unmarried[a] and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. 9 But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
Explain, please. 
Sarcasm, brotha’.
This “sarcasm” of which you speak? It is not the way of my people.
Whoops, typo! You are correct, 0.8%, 1 in 125 people per year.
You’d probably be an unsuccessful politician with that strategy.
American voters don’t want someone who has opinions that are private, and will vote as their constituents require. They want someone with solid moral convictions about what’s right and wrong. That just happen to be the same solid moral convictions that those voters have. 
I’m not really following the “States Rights” part of the gay marriage argument too well.
If each state gets to make laws regarding the legality of gay marriage, would those who are considered married in California not be considered married in Texas? How is that sensible? No one could ever travel or move.
Also, is not a large part of the issue about the federal benefits marriage bestows, such as “married filing jointly”. This indicates a need for laws that cover everyone equally.
It seems to me that same sex marriage is protected by our most treasured documents. And, it only makes sense to me that we not only allow gay marriage, but allow it in all the states.
Even Bill O’Reilly, conservative extraordinaire, thinks opposition to gay marriage is just pure Bible thumping. O'Reilly: Gay Marriage Proponents Have "Compelling Argument" Against Bible "Thumpers" | Video | RealClearPolitics If your brand on religion doesn’t allow it, that’s your issue, not mine.
In this video, presumably conservative anti-gay marriage protestors were asked how gay marriage harmed their straight marriages. In short, not only does it not harm them, at least one guy said it made his marriage stronger. http://thegailygrind.com/2013/03/26/watch-nom-marchers-asked-how-gays-have-damaged-their-marriages/