The Wheels On The Bus....Run Over My Sister

Former VP Dick Cheney is a party line Republican except on the issue of gay marriage. He changed his stand on this because of his daughter Mary but has said politics had kept him from being open about it. After leaving office he became more vocal supporting marriage rights at the state level.

Over the last few days the Chaney daughters have become involved in a public feud over the issue. Mary is a lesbian and has married her long time girlfriend Heather. The couple have children and were married last year. The feud has found its way onto social media where posts on Facebook by Mary and Heather say they are hurt and angered by Liz's comments. Liz said that she is not now nor has she ever been a supporter of gay marriage and that her sister's stand on marriage is wrong. 

Mary countered that Liz is on the wrong side of history on this issue. Heather posted on her Facebook that "Liz has been a guest in our home, has spent time and shared holidays with our children, and when Mary and I got married in 2012 — she didn't hesitate to tell us how happy she was for us. To have her now say she doesn't support our right to marry is offensive to say the least."

Liz is running against long time Republican Senator Mike Enzi in Wyoming. Campaign ads supporting Enzi are painting her as being an outsider who isn't conservative enough for Wyoming by citing her supporting gay marriage. Polls have shown her down by over 50 points. She fought back and in the process has thrown her sister under the bus. 

The Cheney parents have issued a statement supporting Liz leaving Mary on her own. It's politics at its dirtiest when it begins to tear into families. In this day and age of the 24 hour news cycle and social media these kinds of fights become very public. It's sad that sisters who until now seem to have been very close are having a feud that the country is watching unfold on TV. It's also sad that the elder Cheneys have thought politically and not parentally and chosen sides between their daughters. 

On the issue of LGBT rights it is often having a family member come out that changes the mind of Republicans on the issue but it doesn't make them magically Democrats. When choosing to align with a political party it is unreasonable to expect everyone will agree on every issue. It's much more sensical to expect party members will agree on more than they'll disagree on and are more in tune with each other than with the other party. 

But the bottom line here is when the political office goes away your family will still be your family. If you had a good one before entering politics you're going to want them to be intact after you leave politics. Using them as stepping stones isn't the way to do that.