I’ve been reading more polls today, as I like to keep tabs on the common opinions of the people I share a country with, and I saw one that ranked the most important issues to voters for Election 2008. They were as follows:

1.      The War in Iraq

2.      Foreign Policy

3.      Health Care Reform

4.      Gay Marriage

5.      Tax Policies

It seems to me like one of these things doesn’t fit. Remember that Sesame Street game? One of these things is not like the others. One of these things just doesn’t belong. Can you tell me which thing is not like the others by the time I finish my song?

It’s Gay Marriage. While I acknowledge that it’s an issue that affects a lot of people, and one that does so on a much more personal level than other issues do, I don’t think it belongs at the forefront of presidential debates. It does not hold life and death in a balance like the War in Iraq does. It does not affect the daily lives of the 6.6 billion people that inhabit our planet as Foreign Policy does. It does not decide whether sick mothers and children can get treatment or not as Health Care Reform does. It does not tell citizens how much money they have to give to the government or what programs get sufficiently funded as Tax Policies do. Gay marriage is not as important an issue as everyone seems to think.

I think the legislation on the issue should be left up to each individual state. All other marriage rights, i.e. common-law marriage, divorce stipulations, etc., are all handled by states on an individual basis, and I don’t think the gay marriage issue should be treated any differently.

It doesn’t seem fair to me that we can ask the Federal Government to define marriage and force an acceptance of homosexuality on the entire country when at the same time we are outraged whenever they try to influence our beliefs in any other way. They cannot be expected, nor would we want them, to control any of our other feelings or behaviors. The Gay Marriage issue is not immune from this distinction.

And to all Obama supporters who think he’ll change everything for us: He is not for gay marriage. Here is direct quote from his lips: “Marriage connotes to so many people a religious and not just civil element…It’s going to be hard to build consensus around the idea of extending marriage… to all people including those who are same-sex...The bottom line is this: I’m for civil unions and I’m not for gay marriage.” If you don’t trust my quoting, here’s a link to the video:

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/01/25/sot.obama.gay.marriage.wls

On the flipside, here’s what McCain said: “The constitutional amendment we're debating today strikes me as antithetical in every way to the core philosophy of Republicans… It usurps from the states a fundamental authority they have always possessed and imposes a federal remedy for a problem that most states do not believe confronts them." McCain, like I do, believes this is a decision that should be left in the hands of the states. He also said, “I strongly feel that as long the states are able to regulate or determine the status of marriage within those states and it is not overturned by the courts, then I will support the states’ right to do that because I’m a Federalist.”

McCain at least leaves a window open for the opportunity to legalize full-fledged, same-sex marriage in whatever states see fit. Obama seems to have ruled it out all together, maintaining that those who seek a same-sex marriage should be content with a civil union (that’s not assumption; it’s paraphrasing from the video linked above). I just wanted to clear up this misconception about Barack OChrist-Figure.

So leave it to the states, end of story. And as far as using it to select a presidential candidate, we need to realize that he alone does not make decisions on this legislation, and if he did, neither of our nominees would pass it. It has to go through all three branches of our government, and currently the majority of the people in those seats are against it. So focus on the bigger issues when casting your vote in November.