Gay Marriage as an issue in Presidential Elections

[Linus Van Pelt]

I suspect the continued political importance of abortion in the US is tied to the country's continuing religiosity. Abortion has generally dwindled in political importance with the secularization of public life in other western countries. Of course the US has its own trajectory and I don't mean to suggest it will necessarily follow Europe on some sort of linear history, but still, I have a hard time seeing abortion remaining a major issue without a significant core of religious activists keeping attention on it. Centrist voters do not appear enthusiastic about criminalization even when they are uncomfortable with the practice, and even many conservative elites don't seem to love this issue.

Gay marriage, by contrast, seems to be moving quickly to a place where as with divorce, even religious voters are willing to concede it for civil marriage.