Federalism Trumps Traditional Bigotry

RealClearPolitics - Perry, Conservatives and Gay Marriage: An Evolving View?

It seems that Rick Perry made a statement that same sex marriage should be left to the states. This is a pleasant surprise. I had thought that he would try to prevent it, but I'm not sure what he could do as president.

Constitutional amendments are difficult to pass and are a legislative matter. The presidential veto doesn't come into play. There is just too much opposition to such an amendment for it to pass. The president does exercise most of the control over appointments to the supreme court, but it seems unlikely that he will be able to do anything other than replace conservatives with conservatives. For the time being the case probably depends on how Anthony Kennedy votes.

Marriage equality is something that the president doesn't have much control over. This is up to the states and the supreme court. Congress could repeal DOMA and a president could veto that, so the president would have control over whether or not the federal government recognized same sex marriage so long as the supreme court didn't intervene. They are unlikely to rule that same sex marriage is unconstitutional, but I could see them ruling that marriage is a right which cannot be denied to gays and lesbians.

On second thought, Rick Perry's statement doesn't provide much for people who favor more socially liberal policies. He said that it was "okay" if New York wanted same sex marriage in New York. This doesn't commit him to recognizing such marriages at the federal level. It doesn't commit him to doing much of anything that he could do as president. It might prevent him from making an unsuccessful attempt at blocking same sex marriage through a constitutional amendment, but that hardly sounds like a winning strategy.