Mitt Romney's position on same-sex marriage defines the GOP's new campaign slogan: Backward!

By Richard K. Barry

The news of the day yesterday was obviously the culmination of President Obama's evolution on marriage equality. Great news. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney is sticking to his guns, so to speak. As The New York Times reports:

Asked by Fox News's KDVR-TV about a bill that would have allowed civil unions for same-sex couples in Colorado, which died late Tuesday night, Mr. Romney reiterated his belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman.

"Well, when these issues were raised in my state of Massachusetts," he said, "I indicated my view, which is I do not favor marriage between people of the same gender, and I do not favor civil unions if they are identical to marriage other than by name. My view is the domestic partnership benefits, hospital visitation rights and the like are appropriate, but that the others are not."

We have watched as the Republican party has steadily marched itself back to the 1950s. Steve Benen at The Maddow Blog writes:

As President Obama breaks new political ground, Romney is now positioned to the right of Bush/Cheney on legal recognition of same-sex partnerships - Dick Cheney endorsed marriage equality and George W. Bush backed civil unions.

I noticed this past February Dick Cheney was even lobbying in Maryland for same-sex marriage rights as that state debated marriage equality.

Ah, to return to the good old days when the Republican Party was marginally less obnoxious than it is today. Truly proof of the implicit GOP campaign slogan: Backward!

See for yourself: George W. Bush on his support for civil unions in 2004.

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)