… Republicans running for president face a choice in responding to the court’s ruling. They could try to use the strong emotions same-sex marriages evoke as a way to mobilize conservative voters in primaries, but potentially at the cost of undermining their campaigns in next year’s general election. Or they could seize on the finality of a Supreme Court ruling as a way of avoiding an issue on which their party is out of step with the majority of voters, but at the risk of alienating conservatives who see the court decision as a violation of deeply held religious principles.
How they choose to navigate the issue will help determine whether the vast majority of the country quickly accepts the court’s ruling, as happened with the decision to wipe out laws against interracial marriage nearly half a century ago, or whether it will remain divisive for years to come. CONT.
David Lauter & Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times
Recent polls: Same-sex marriage