Local Liberals May Derail Welch

Peggy Welch has snubbed the local democratic core again by voting for the recent Marriage Amendment to the State Constitution, a situation they are growing increasingly tired of. Last year she co-sponsored a similar amendment gaining broad support from the republican side of the isle, a situation she reported caused her a “lot of stress”. This session she voted with the republicans again defending her position by stating she supported the amendment because of her "personal convictions" about marriage. Predictably absent from her web site is any explanation of her vote on the Marriage Amendment. It appears Representative Welch is attempting to ride down the middle of the tracks by letting her Christian moral values influence her voting decisions, a position usually reserved for those on the far right side of the track. Generally the moral left would prefer that government stay out of their bedroom while the liberal left leans more toward anything goes. As she continues to play both sides against the middle it will be interesting to see if she can maintain her grassroots support in a district so heavily influenced by the far left majority. Fallout from her actions evidently peaked recently when organizers of the local Jackson Day Dinner scuttled the event purportedly in response to Welch being the featured speaker.

The liberal left’s tolerance level for Welch’s recent voting record puts her in a very interesting position in the 2006 election year. One possible explanation for her recent decisions is that she is looking beyond District 60 in 2006. Certainly voting a moral Christian conscious bodes quite well beyond the boarders of Monroe County and would obviously strengthen her support base of those voters in the middle. Only time will tell about her true intensions but one thing is for certain, the liberal left is not at all happy with her right now, which is something that could pose to be problematic and eventually derail her efforts.