Gay Marriage - State Right or Federal Prerogative?
Welcome to Tony Island Blog! Today, we're going to examine the 500lb gorilla in the room - gay marriage; but, we're not going to discuss the moral issues surrounding this highly touchy subject, simply (ha!) the political dynamics surrounding this issue. For many Republican presidential hopefuls, "states' rights" is a key issue this campaign season: devolve Federal power back to the states and let the states decide their own fates. All is well and good until the issue of gay marriage comes up. Here, the hopefuls make a 180 and decide that the Federal government must be involved and it must be a Federal law or Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. A typical explanation from the hopefuls is Mitt Romney's. Romney is fearful that one state won't recognize another state's legal gay marriage (ie, if a gay married couple move from New York to Utah, they'd be in legal limbo) and thus a Federal gay marriage ban needs to be in place. So which...