Back at the Altar

JOHN MCCAIN and Barack Obama both say that they oppose same-sex marriage. Both also say they oppose a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Hillary Clinton agrees with them on each point. President Bush once sought an amendment but in 2005 dropped the idea as unattainable. At the top of our politics, then, we seem to have reached a moderate consensus on same-sex marriage. You might therefore think that it will not be an issue in this year’s presidential race.

Maybe it won’t. But the California supreme court has just done its part to blow up this bipartisan consensus. It ordered the state to begin granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples. There is an outside chance that its decision will make same-sex marriage an even bigger issue in this election than it was in the last one.

About the Author

Ramesh Ponnuru

Ramesh Ponnuru is the editor of National Review, a columnist for the Washington Post, and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

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JOHN MCCAIN and Barack Obama both say that they oppose same-sex marriage. Both also say they oppose a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Hillary Clinton agrees with them on each point. President Bush once sought an amendment but in 2005 dropped the idea as unattainable. At the top of our politics, then, we seem to have reached a moderate consensus on same-sex marriage. You might therefore think that it will not be an issue in this year’s presidential race.

Maybe it won’t. But the California supreme court has just done its part to blow up this bipartisan consensus. It ordered the state to begin granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples. There is an outside chance that its decision will make same-sex marriage an even bigger issue in this election than it was in the last one.