What is a Traditional Marriage or Family?

The first rule in a debate issue is to establish definitions. Republicans are great at not providing definitions or being vague about what they mean. Take for example the phrase "Winning the War in Iraq" repeated as a talking point by right wing talk show hosts . . . it may seem straight forward but there is no definition of winning presented by the Bush Administration. How do you win something if you have not established a clear cut definition on the topic. One may see the same problem when it comes to discriminating against gays on the issues of marriage/adoption.

Americans and the media give Republicans leeway when it comes to this issue. John McCain claims to only support a "traditional marriage" but what the heck is a traditional marriage. Whose definition of traditional are we using? It becomes evident that when one entertains the semantics of the issue it becomes clear how important they are to the issue. 50 years ago, an interracial marriage was not "traditional". Has that changed in 2008? It depends on who is defining the word traditional.

McCain claims to only support adoption of orphans if they are done so by a "traditional" family. He attempts to be sly by claiming that he supports "adoption by two parent families that are of the traditional family." What does this mean? He technically did not say that he opposes "adoption by gay families" but he is quick to add "traditional" as if that some how makes clarifies his statement. I do not know what McCain means by "traditional?" Does that include interracial couples? How old fashion is he? He also states that, "two parent families are best for America." What is he trying to say to single parent families? He only makes it clear that in his opinion a two parent family constitutes a "traditional" family.

Liberals and Democrats should be keen on this manner of spinning the issue by Republicans. If they are to debate and win in this or any other issue they should be clear about what they mean. As for the issue of gay marriage or gay family adoption, one should refrain from using the word "traditional family" because there is no universally accepted definition of the term. If one decides to engage in a debate with conservatives and they have the upper hand on the definition then it is a losing battle. For all we know . . . according to Republicans and McCain, a traditional family is a White, Christian, middle class couple composed of a male and female that lives in the Suburbs. This sort of rules out a lot of folks in America does it not?