February 27, 2013 04:00 PM UTC

Never Mind, Marilyn Musgrave Still a Throwback

• 3 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

FOX 31's Eli Stokols corrects what for a moment seemed very exciting news:

Finally, a concession from Marilyn Musgrave.

Or so it seemed for a short time on the website of the New York Times, which initially reported Wednesday that the former Colorado Congresswoman, who never officially conceded her 2008 defeat to Democrat Betsy Markey, had done a complete reversal on what has always been her signature issue: gay marriage.

But Musgrave, who sponsored a Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and famously said that there was no bigger threat to the country, tells FOX31 Denver that the report is flat-out wrong…

Prior to stridently anti-gay former Rep. Marilyn Musgrave's correction of this story, it had made the rounds as further evidence that Republicans were taking concrete steps to moderate on divisive social issues after years of electoral defeats. No such luck, corrects the New York Times: 

An earlier version of this article erroneously included one Republican among the more than two dozen who have added their names to legal brief supporting same-sex marriage. Former Representative Marilyn Musgrave, Republican of Colorado, was not one of them.  (A former district director for Ms. Musgrave signed the brief.)

As we've said repeatedly, a shift away from the bad old days of Rep. Musgrave, one of the Republicans chiefly responsible for drawing the wrath of wealthy gay rights advocates like Tim Gill and helping push the state Democratic in recent years, would be a very good thing for them politically. That's why interest in a genuine change of heart from Musgrave was so immediately great–it would be like the Israelis and Palestinians hosting a joint press conference to announce all is forgiven.

Well, sorry folks. At least with regard to Marilyn Musgrave, that's not happening.