Special thanks to my excellent co-host Bill Scher for being a great partner, and also for Sang Ngo for putting up with me!

Check out this “very special” montage the good folks at Bloggingheads put together for my final episode.

You can watch an excerpt of the video here:

In putting that post together, I solicited input from many conservative bloggers and commentators from around the nation — many of whom were kind enough to give me their thoughts — regarding their position on the ‘gay’ issue, Ann Coulter’s speech, and Glenn Beck’s recent comments regarding wanting the government to stay out of the marriage debate.

Not every quote made it into the Politics Daily post (since some came in after deadline, and many of the points were redundant).  But I wanted to share them with you, as I think they prove insightful regarding the current state of conservatism.  Here goes:

Alex Pappas of The Daily Caller said:

“It appears that [conservatives have] abandoned [the 'gay' issue] for now. Just look at the conservative response when Prop 8 outlawing gay marriage in California was struck down. There just wasn’t much of a response nationally at all.

But that doesn’t mean that conservatives are now pro-gay marriage. They’ll care more about it when the economy gets better. I think most conservatives disagree with Beck, but realize it just isn’t a issue right now.

A Tea Party activist told me after Prop 8 was struck down that he knows people within the movement disagree on gay marriage, but what brings them all together today is their opposition to a government they think is spending too much.”

*****

Quinn Hillyer, a senior editorial writer for the Washington Times said:

“The day that Ann Coulter and Glenn Beck, or any two conservatives, can be assume to speak for the entire conservative movement is the day it is no longer a movement. Of course conservaties aren’t ‘giving up’ on the marriage issue. Conservatives can and should keep their rhetoric civil, and they should allow private contractual arrangements for such things as visitation rights and survivor rights, without coming close to approving when judges subvert the Constitution and thousands of years of human experience and tradition.”

*****

Pajamas Media’s Roger Simon told me:

“I have always been quite publicly pro-gay marriage. Since I am not a religious person, to me it is a cut and dried civil rights issue. Of late, however, I have been looking at the overall issue from a more libertarian perspective and think the government should be out of the marriage business altogether. Government can grant civil unions with all adult couples equal, regardless of sexual orientation. All these unions have equal rights, tax regulations, inheritance, etc. Then religious groups – whatever they may be – are free to join pe0ple in “marriage,” however they wish to do it.

One other note: In the real world “gay marriage,” however you wish to define it, has been with us for decades. Every city in our country is filled with gay couples. Every family I know has gay people in it, including mine. Stop worrying about it and move on. BOR-RING.”

*****

Josh Trevino of Trevino Strategies and Media said:

“I wouldn’t confuse Glenn Beck and Ann Coulter with the conservative movement. They’re entertainers first and foremost. The fact is thatthe number of states which have, through popular or representative vote, prohibited gay “marriage” is about the same number necessary to pass a Constitutional Amendment. That’s the will of the people, and that’s the conservative voice — not these two.”

*****

Liberty Pundit’s Melissa Clouthier said:

“Conservatives have always been more open and tolerant than the left would have everyone believe. Conservatives view individual rights to be individual–between man and God. Most conservatives, though, view marriage to be, by definition, between a man and a woman. So while Glenn Beck is okay with Gay Marriage, he doesn’t represent the mainstream of conservative thought. Are most conservatives okay with domestic partnerships? I would say, yes. This is probably an evolution of thought, but probably only surprising to the left.”

****

Oklahoma Watchdog’s Andrew Griffin noted:

“I recall a cover article in The Nation magazine a few years back titled “Attack of the HomoCons,” about gay and lesbian conservative asserting their power and influence in certain conservative circles. That was probably 8-10 years ago. It’s probably more true today than it was then that gay and lesbian conservative politicians are more common and more accepted.

I think a growing number of conservatives are fairly libertarian on the topic of gay marriage and civil unions. Many have gay and lesbian friends and see them raising children and having families of their own. Social “wedge issues” like gay marriage don’t hold the power they once did, from my vantage point.”

*****

Rob Port of the Say Anything Blog noted:

“I think homosexual issues are become less of an issue as a matter of priorities. Republicans have bigger fish to fry, and increasingly homosexual issues are divisive even among the GOP base. Plus, younger generations are ambivalent towards gay marriage, if not outright in favor of it. As time goes on, it’s going to cease being any sort of an issue. The writing seems to be on the wall.”

*****

Mark Newgent of Red Maryland told me:

“I think Coulter, Beck et al are a small subset of conservatives conceding for lack of a better term on gay marriage. Gay marriage is an issue I’ve wrestled with for a while, and increasingly find myself siding with positions of Coulter, Beck, and Dick Cheney. I believe

Coulter is right because in the end it’s a matter of liberty.I think federalism provides an answer. Let the folks of the different states decide the matter for themselves. With various states chosing to adopt or reject gay marriage, we’ll get test groups and controlgroups and the opportunity to observe the ramifications of gay marriage on society.”

*****

Fox News contributor James Pinkerton said:

“The conservative movement is a big tent–and getting bigger, everyday that Obama is in office. If social conservatives want to change the emerging laissez-faire consensus to gay marriage, they are going to have to change the judiciary, in a big way. And that requires the presidency.”

*****

Elizabeth Blackney, a media & communications strategist noted:

“Glenn Beck is just stating more plainly what Ted Olson, a conservative Republican and former Solicitor General, argued in the recent Prop 8 case. Olson’s opinion was fine with them when he argued Bush v. Gore. But today, some evangelical conservatives will never be satisfied unless they achieve total, ideological purity among Republican figures. I applaud Coulter and Beck for understanding there’s no such thing as ‘purity.’”

*****

Dan Riehl, who blogs at Riehlworldview said:

“I don’t believe conservatives have given up “the gay issue,” in large part, because it never was a gay issue for most of us. The issue for the majority of conservatives and Americans is preserving the traditional institution of marriage. One can desire to do that, while having no animosity toward gays at all. It has always been convenient for the Left to portray the issue that way, as a negative issue of discrimination, as opposed to a positive endeavor of preservation. To the extent some conservatives, mostly social conservatives, oppose gays for simply being gay, I believe the issue is working itself out generationally without the interference of government. As that is the only way to solve the problem, among the people, not by government, or judicial, intervention, the majority should rule in this regard.”

Does it matter if the Prop 8 judge is gay? (03:43)
The return of the judicial activism narrative (04:52)
Is America becoming pro-life and pro-gay marriage? (05:27)
Immigration split on the right over birthright citizenship (08:01)
Immigration split on the left over border security (00:59)

During the first segment, I defended First Lady Michelle Obama regarding charges she was taking too many lavish vacations, but also argued there was a danger that it may hurt her husband politically.

Later, Lanny Davis and I debated economics and job creation.

Left and right reax to WikiLeaks Afghanistan (04:43)
The conservative anti-war critique hasn’t taken off…yet (02:31)
Dave Weigel’s media odyssey concludes (we think) (07:50)
Obama hammered by both sides on immigration (05:55)
Matt: Hispanics ought to be conservatives (05:23)
Liberals to Obama: Elizabeth Warren or bust! (08:54)