GOP strategist urges support of gay unions

A national Republican strategist said in Iowa on Monday that Republicans should speak out in favor of same-sex marriage because the majority of Americans support it and it's consistent with conservative values. In private meetings with GOP elected officials and operatives from across Iowa, Ken Mehlman, who was chairman of the Republican National Committee from 2005 to 2007 and managed George W. Bush's re-election campaign, has been urging the politicos to recognize the evolution in thinking and demographic shifts in Iowa and the nation. "Republicans have an opportunity to both stand up for values that are core to our philosophy -- freedom, family values and the golden rule -- and to do the right thing politically by allowing adults who love one another to have access to civil marriage," Mehlman said in an interview with The Des Moines Register on Monday.