We are barely into the mid-term election season and up pops a 'hot button' issue. The ACLU and three same sex couples filed suit yesterday challenging the state's constitutional ban on same sex marriage. This is only the latest suit that is sweeping the nation. Utah, late last year, had their ban ruled unconstitutional by a federal district court judge, throwing the resultant ban into chaos and the approximately 1000 same sex couples already married into limbo, while the state appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Currently 18 states and the District of Columbia all allow same sex marriages and with the “Defense of Marriage Act” ruled unconstitutional, it will be only a matter of time before the remaining 32 states will each be challenged in the courts. This process will continue until such time as the U.S. Supreme Court finally rules on whether or not all citizens have a constitutional right to marriage regardless of the genders involved.
The timing of filing this suit is all about politics in this year's elections. At stake is the control of the State House and the senate. We know exactly where most of the candidates already stand, with the social conservatives firmly opposed to the lifting of the ban and liberals in favor of lifting such. What's in play, with the public support for same sex marriages growing, is if that support is great enough in Wisconsin to deal the social conservatives a blow in the mid term elections.
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Clearly this suit will be used to unify both the conservative and liberal bases. As usual, in play will be those uncommitted and whether they are tired of the social conservative's focus on nonsense issues such as this. In my view, the state senate could be determined by this issue. Whether or not this issue will gain traction with the uncommitted will depend on how carefully crafted the liberal messaging proves to be.
This is only one of the issues that will develop over the course of the year to differentiate the two camps. Each will attempt to paint the other as being too extreme and out of touch with the will of the citizenry. I'll be looking forward to see how this election plays out. Political junkies, like myself, live for this stuff and the more contentious, the better.
