Is It Time to Put a Fork in Howard Dean?

Isn't it about time that the folks in the Dem Party send Howard Dean to Oklahoma for some tattoo-filled R&R? A little birdy tells us that the Vermont Screamer recently appeared on The 700 Club to denounce gay marriagel. Or, same thing, tells Pat Robertson's faithful that, HBO's Big Love and the official Democratic Party Platform be damned, marriage can only happen between one man and one woman at a time.

From the Washingtion Blade:

"The Democratic Party platform from 2004 says marriage is between a man and a woman," Dean said May 10 during a "700 Club" program hosted by conservative Christian leader Pat Robertson on his Christian Broadcasting Network.

That statement contradicts the Democratic National Committee's official stance, which was adopted in 2004.

"We support full inclusion of gay and lesbian families in the life of our nation and seek equal responsibilities, benefits, and protections for these families," the platform says.

More here.

Note that the language from the platform leaves wriggle room for nervous Dems to deny that they want "marriage" for gays and lesbians. And note that most if not all major Dem leaders–Gore, Hillary Clinton, Kerry (god, is he even still alive?)–have all huffed and puffed on the subject and come out against gay marriage.

I do not particularly care about partisan politics and I have never voted for a winning political candidate at any level (the closest I came was probably in second or third grade, when my favored candidate almost won the contest to collect mission money from my fellow Catholic schoolers). But can the Dems at least offer a unique selling proposition to the Republicans by unabashedly embracing gay marriage? I can't imagine it would hurt them and making a principled case for extending the matrimonial franchise to gays and lesbians might earn them some respect from their opponents (not to mention their own members).