There’s a strong Republican and conservative case to be made in favor of the right to marry,” Ken Mehlman told the room. “If we are all endowed by a creator with unalienable rights including the pursuit of happiness, how can that not include marrying the person you love?”

Ken Mehlman

As I've been involved in the fight for marriage equality, one of the things I've learned is how many people were harmed by the campaigns in which I was involved. I apologize to them and tell them I am sorry. While there have been recent victories, this could still be a long struggle in which there will be setbacks, and I'll do my part to be helpful.

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There's nothing more powerful than coming out and being who you a... by Ken Mehlman

There's nothing more powerful than coming out and being who you are.

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Public attitudes follow real life experience, and as marriage equality has spread to more communities, Americans have seen more freedom, stronger families, more protection for children and more fairness.

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But despite these differences, so many of our faiths and traditions are rooted in the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would want done to you. Isn't allowing adults to marry the person they love consistent with the Golden Rule?

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Minnesota is very important. You're going to have a competitive race for the Senate, a competitive governor's race, you have an open seat in the 6th (Congressional) District, a state legislature that is closely divided, and a state that was very competitive in 2000 and 2004 and is likely to be again in 2008.

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Democratic leaders always seem to blame America first. by Ken Mehlman

Democratic leaders always seem to blame America first.

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John Danforth, I thought, was a great senator and did a great job with the United Nations. I think he's a good man. I would respectfully disagree with that.

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The fact is five months ago this was an issue that people weren't really talking that much about. Because of the president's leadership, because he's brought it to people's attention, it's now a top issue.

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While countless Americans are pulling together to lend a helping hand, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are pointing fingers in a shameless effort to tear us apart.

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Our party for the longest time has relied on the votes of white guys. I think that all of these candidates are going to improve our party, our policies, and our nation.

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I don't think the American people, if you look historically, elec... by Ken Mehlman

I don't think the American people, if you look historically, elect angry candidates.

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The Democrats' plan for 2006? Take the House and Senate and impeach the president. With our nation at war, is this the kind of Congress you want?

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On a day when all Americans, regardless of party affiliation, are celebrating the growth of freedom and honoring the sacrifices of American and Iraqi troops with elections in Iraq, it's sad that John Kerry has chosen once again to offer vacillation and defeatism. Even after the first free elections in Iraq in more than 50 years John Kerry still believes Iraq is more of terrorist threat than when the brutal tyrant Saddam Hussein was in power and even more remarkably Kerry is now once again for funding our troops, after being for the funding before he was against it.

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I am committed to ensure that our 2008 Republican presidential candidates forthrightly address issues of importance to the African-American community.

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For a generation, terrorists learned they could make war on free nations without fear of war in return. On September 12, the terrorists got war in return.

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Conservatives don't need to change core convictions to embrace the growing support for equal rights for gay Americans.

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Making the case (for same-sex marriage) from a conservative values perspective is an imperative, not an option.

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I can't change the fact that I wasn’t in this place personally when I was in politics, and I genuinely regret that. It was very hard, personally,”

If you look at attitudes today and where they are headed, it’s clear to me that supporting equal rights, including the rights to civil marriage, is a net positive for winning elections, as well as the right thing to do,” Ken Mehlman said in an interview. “By contrast, opposing equal rights is a net negative that gets problematic to more voters each year.”

Today's decision is historic and consistent with an accelerating trend over the past decade, as more Americans consider the question, more support marriage equality -- across every ideological, religious, racial, ethnic and age demographic.

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