Was it really necessary for Edwards to even introduce the subject of
Cheney's family issues?

Slick cheap shot in my book.

Eisboch


You may be right.

I hadn't considered the effect such a remark would have on people who consider
homosexuality a vile, deviant, "sin" rather than a biological anomaly.

A liberal hears, "So and so has a lesbian daughter," and to us it sounds like,
"The
Jones family has a kid who is left handed."

Conservatives hear the same remark and perhaps some of them conclude, "The
Jones family must have done a crappy job of raising their kids if one of them
turned out queer. They should have taken them to church more often. How sad to
think that nice young woman is condemned to burn in hell for all eternity."

If Edwards had a malicious intent when he commented on Cheney's daughter and
the support the Cheney family has extended to her, then the comments that it
was a "shot" have some legs.

If a conservative had made that comment, it is more likely that it would have
been malicious than when the same comment is made by a moderate or a liberal.
Goes to frame of reference.