George W. Gets a Case of Log Cabin Fever

Looks like there are some leaks in George W. Bush's Big Tent. Two weeks after fellow presidential candidate John McCain met with the Log Cabin Republicans, an association of gay GOPers, Bush said he would probably decline a similar invitation. "I am someone who is a uniter, not a divider. I don't believe in group thought, pitting one group of people against another," Bush told Tim Russert Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." Huh? This seems more than a little inconsistent coming from a candidate who has had private meetings with Christian conservative groups. And a bit of a risk at a time when gays are becoming an increasingly large segment of GOP voters.

In fact, the issue has become somewhat of a sore spot for Bush the Younger. After he earned high marks from gay groups for including openly gay people on his campaign staff, a group of Christian conservatives says Bush promised them in a September meeting that he would not appoint gays to any federal posts, according to the Dallas Morning News. The Bush campaign isn't talking about what happened during the meeting; the Log Cabin Republicans have asked for a clarification. Bush has so far managed to pull off the enviable political sleight-of-hand of remaining vague enough on several key issues that Republicans with widely differing views could still support him. The Log Cabin logjam may change that, and force W. to take a side he didn't really want to.