Former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld, a Republican who challenged Senator John Kerry in 1996, hopes to become one of the few men to lead multiple states by winning the New York gubernatorial race next year. Already, though, the moderate GOPer is being placed in a tough situation on the issue of gay marriage. The Washington Times' Greg Pierce passes on the story that originally ran in The New York Post.

William F. Weld, the former Massachusetts governor who is seeking the Republican gubernatorial nomination in New York, "is refusing to take a position on the highly controversial 2003 ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court legalizing same-sex marriages -- even though he once enthusiastically supported it," the New York Post's Fredric U. Dicker writes.

"Weld -- who, as Massachusetts governor, appointed the judge who wrote the 4-3 gay-marriage decision -- at first told the Post that he'd 'rather take more time' to review the ruling before saying if he thought it was legally right or wrong," Mr. Dicker said.

"But then he conceded that he had already 'read both sides' of the decision -- and concluded that both of them 'were brilliant.'

"Pressed to say which side was the legally correct one, the one-time federal prosecutor said, 'I'm not going to give you any free legal advice.'

"However, in a Nov. 27, 2003, Associated Press report headlined 'Former Mass. governor supports gay-marriage ruling,' Weld was described as having 'hailed' the decision.'"

Inside the Beltway pundits have spent countless hours opining that the Democratic Party is out of touch with the South and other areas of the country, at least partly on account of its stance on the issue of gay marriage. This story clearly shows that there are two sides to the issue.

Increasingly, Republicans are alienating voters throughout coastal America (both the East and West Coasts) because of their doctrinaire positions on social issues. While some GOP politicians have been able to walk the tightrope on abortion, gay marriage, and other such issues, such a task is becoming increasingly difficult. The anemic approval ratings of "blue state" Republican Governors like New York's George Pataki, California's Arnold Schwarzenegger, Massachusetts' Mitt Romney, and even Ohio's Bob Taft are a testament to this fact.

2006 could prove to be a turning point for these regions, just as 1994 was for the South. Voters could very well send the signal that no longer will politicians like Weld and others be allowed to obfuscate on social issues -- they must either moderate and risk offending (and losing) the conservative base, or stay to the right and lose the region for a generation.