Cheney gay marriage dispute unfortunate

Mary Cheney says her sister, Liz, is wrong on the issue of gay marriage.

Liz Cheney said on Fox News Sunday that she believes in the traditional definition of marriage involving a man and a woman. Mary Cheney is involved in a gay marriage.

The disagreement between the two became public when Mary Cheney responded to and criticized her sister’s stance in a Facebook post.

That a family spat is public is sad enough. That this should come up in a Senate race between incumbent Mike Enzi and Liz Cheney is the saddest part of all, however.

Enzi has chosen to grandstand on the issue by supporting a federal constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. This despite the fact that any dispute over gay marriage is clearly under the purview of the individual states in the nation. Enzi knows a constitutional amendment will never happen and ought to be honest enough to say so.

When asked about the issue herself, Liz Cheney could have taken the high road — and a solid conservative stance — by making it clear that the issue had no place in a U.S. Senate race since it is a question of states’ rights, and not within the prerogative of the federal government. Her personal views are of no relevance. Her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, has taken the states’ rights position on the issue since 2009.

When our country has such serious economic issues on its plate, the real shame is that Enzi is trying to portray Liz Cheney as soft on gay marriage — a question that has no pertinence in a Senate race. Both Republican candidates are in a position to teach the folks of Wyoming the difference between state and federal prerogatives and that isn’t happening.