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Republican Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona predicts pro-gay marriage GOP presidential candidate
By Adam Edelman, March 31, 2013
An up-and-coming Republican Senator said Sunday it was “inevitable” that the GOP would field a presidential candidate who supports same-sex marriage.
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” was asked by guest host Chuck Todd whether he could “support a Republican presidential candidate someday who supported same-sex marriage.”
"I think that's inevitable,” Flake said. “There will be one, and I think he'll receive Republican support, or she will, so I think that the answer is yes.”
But when pressed a moment later on whether he could see shifting his own position on same-sex marriage, Flake maintained that he is a traditionalist.
"I still hold to the traditional definition of marriage," Flake said, adding that his views, unlike those of many of his colleagues, were not “evolving.”
In recent days and weeks, several U.S. senators from both major political parties have said their views on the controversial topic had shifted or were changing.
In the past week alone, at least four Democratic senators, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), have flipped on the issue, fully endorsing same-sex marriage.
Earlier this month, Republican Sen. Rob Portman, of Ohio, became the first GOP senator to announce support for same-sex marriage after his son came out to him as gay. On Thursday, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said her views on the issue were “evolving.”
The wave of public announcements on the topic comes as the Supreme Court takes on two significant cases related to gay rights. The high court recently took up challenges to California’s Proposition 8, which bans gay marriage, and the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman and withholds benefits from married same-sex couples.
Even as some shift on the matter, others have remained steadfast in their opposition.
"I don't ever think you'd ever see the Republican Party platform say 'we're in favor' of same-sex marriage,” Ed Gillespie, a senior adviser on Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign, said during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday.”
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