Marriage: A Union Between a Woman and a Man

The Iowa Supreme Court on Friday ruled in a unanimous decision that the Iowa statute limiting civil marriage to a union between a man and a woman violates the equal protection clause of the Iowa Constitution. This would not have come as a surprise to me if it were California we were talking about, as California is a very liberal state, but Iowa? Come on! The GOP needs to take a strong stance on the position that marriage should be between a man and a woman. The Iowa Supreme Court and other courts across the country have used the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment to find statutes that limit civil unions to male/female couples unconstitutional. Republican leaders must argue that this is a flawed assessment of the statute. Laws that outlaw homosexual couples from entering a civil union do not deny any individual the right to marry. If Steve wants to marry Mark, the state can deny him, but he can always go marry Jane. He is not being denied the right to marry; he is being denied the right to marry Steve just as the state may deny the marriage between brothers and sisters, and marriage to more than one spouse, a.k.a polygamy. The GOP needs to stand up for initiatives like the Proposition 8 bill that made gay marriage illegal in California. The issue of gay marriage will not go away any time soon, and the GOP cannot hide from it anymore. During the 2008 campaign McCain did not take a strong position on gay marriage but President Obama did, stating in a response to the Human Rights Campaign Presidential Questionnaire: "I do not support gay marriage. Marriage has religious and social connotations, and I consider marriage to be between a man and a woman." It’s time for Republicans to hold President Obama accountable for that statement and push for a Constitutional ban on gay marriage. Now, I’m not so naïve as to believe that a Constitutional ban on marriage is going to happen anytime soon, it didn’t happen with a Republican in office, but the fact that Obama will not act on the issue despite the pressure will give Republicans an issue to get voters passionate about in 2012. Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in 1996 and President Clinton signed it into law. DOMA defines marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman for purposes of federal law. In addition, although it leaves each state free to define marriage however it likes, DOMA also affirms that no state is required to recognize a same-sex marriage from another state under the Full Faith and Credit Clause of Article IV of the U.S. Constitution. The United States has recognized that marriage should be between a man and a woman, but the states still have discretion on the matter. A Constitutional ban, although a drastic move, would eliminate the ability of a state to allow gay marriage. A Constitutional ban might be drastic, but it might be the only way to preserve the “sanctity” of marriage and the religious and social connotations that goes with it.

The Republicans Stayed Home

Let me start off by saying that I should have written this post a while back because an understanding of why John McCain lost the presidential election in 2008 is essential to understanding what the GOP must now do in order to re-energize and rebuild. I will also say now that this post is entirely based on my opinion on what happened, based on my perceptions as a student of politics and as a volunteer at McCain Victory Headquarters in Albuquerque during the campaign. I won't be citing any sources or referencing any blogs in this post, because I am basically just rambling about what I think the Republicans did wrong.

So why did John McCain lose? There are the obvious answers that most people attribute the loss to, like the economy, President Bush's image, Barack Obama's charisma, etc. My explanation, and of course I am not claiming to be the only one with this opinion, is that Republicans were simply not excited enough to go out and vote. Republicans made the fatal mistake of not promoting and making social issues a major focus of the election. George W. Bush in both of his campaigns was able to make social issues such as: abortion, gun control, the death penalty, stem cell research, gay marriage, etc., the focus of attention and he made sure to stir up Republican voters enough to ensure that not only would they go out and vote, but they would take their families and friends with them. He made sure that Republicans were angry that government wanted to take control of health care, or take away the right to own guns, or murder unborn babies. Anger=passion, and passion gets people to the polls. McCain was unable to stir the pot, no-one was angry that Barack Obama was the single most liberal Senator in the senate. No one was angry that Obama was in support of the D.C. ban against hand guns, or that he supported legislation as a state senator in Illinois that would prevent a doctor from saving the lives of babies who were born after a botched abortion. These issues were not put on the table and Republicans were not mobilized. As a result we saw a record number of Catholics and Christians voting for Obama, when in 2004 they came out strong for Bush. As a volunteer for McCain's campaign I made hundreds of phone calls and spoke with many Republicans who stated that they were not fans of McCain and that they were not going to vote. This seems to have been the popular option across the country. McCain was overly moderate during his campaign and shyed away from the controversial social issues because he wanted to appeal to independents and soft democrats, but in doing so he isolated his base. Above everything else, McCain lost in '08 because the Republicans stayed home. In 2012 the GOP needs a candidate who will get the voters to the polls.

Palin 2012?

It has become increasingly easy for Democrats and some Republicans to blame the loss of John McCain in the 2008 election on his running mate, Sarah Palin. Since the election I cannot count the times that I have overheard people discussing the election and placing all the blame on Sarah Palin. Immediately following the election, most of the major news networks were also quick to blame Palin, to the point that she became very frustrated and appeared almost unstable in her post election interviews. I reject the notion that Governor Sarah Palin is the number one reason that Senator John McCain lost the 2008 Election.

After the election, I spent over 6 hours analyzing exit poll data from the election. Exit polls are taken by random voters immediately after they cast their vote. The data is compiled from polling locations nationwide and in this election cycle, 17,836 voters were polled, making the data extremely precise and reliable. The data strongly suggests that Palin was not the reason McCain lost. One question asked, "Who is Qualified To Be President if Necessary?" 91% of respondents who voted for Obama answered "Only Biden," while 96% of those who voted for McCain answered "Only Palin." More Republicans thought Palin would be qualified to be president then Democrats thought Biden would be qualified. Another question asked, "Is Biden Qualified to be President if Necessary?" Only 71% of those who voted for Obama answered "yes" while 91% of those who voted for McCain answered "yes" to the question, "Is Palin Qualified to be President if Necessary?" This indicates that those who voted for McCain, mostly Republicans, had more confidence in Palin than those who voted for Obama, mostly Democrats, had confidence in Biden. This is only a fraction of data that indicates that Palin did not have a negative effect on McCain's bid for the presidency. I know from a personal perspective that Palin energized the GOP and Republicans who were not excited about McCain became excited when Palin was chosen as the running mate. I strongly believe that Palin was a positive factor of McCain's ticket. The exit poll data can be found at: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/polls/#val=USP00p2