The Cheney's

General blog consensus about John Kerry invoking Mary Cheney falls generally along party lines, I think. Rush Limbaugh calls it a "mean, cheap shot," although I'm not sure what is so mean about calling a lesbian a lesbian. Maybe I'll understand when I'm Rush's age.

This has been the talking point for Republican's today, and they have all been right on message. One reason is to take the spin away from Kerry swept the debates and Bush lied about Bin Laden. The other is the reaction it evokes on the right.

Now, when the Cheney's were asked about gay marriage and they brought up Mary, no one seemed to have a problem with it. And when John Edwards mentioned her during the VP debate, Dick thanked the Senator for his kind words. However, when Alan Keyes, GOP candidate for the Senate, calls her a selfish hedonist and a sinner, not a peep comes from the Cheney household. So there is a bit of a disconnect when Lynne Cheney comes out and claims John Kerry's comments show he has no shame.

Now, right after the debate I switched to that bastion of fair and balanced, FOX News. One of the Republican spinners pointed out that the Kerry/Mary moment got a big "downturn" from their base. So I was not surprised when the talking heads came out firing on the issue.

The Bush camp continues to believe that this election is about firing up the base. This moment of false ire generated by the Bush campaign is doing just that. It also helps distract from the idea that Kerry won the debate. It helps distract from the fact that Bush lied about his claim he never said he forgot about Osama Bin Laden.

Eventually this will fade into the background. But the damage is done. Democrats failed to control the spin after round three. Hopefully it won't prove to be fatal.

P.S. Andrew Sullivan has a lot on the issue. Look around.