More AP Coverage of Maine

AP writer David Crary has more coverage of Maine fallout, in an article that basically takes the tone of "what went wrong?" Two things I noticed:

"Today's heartbreaking defeat unfortunately shows that lies and fear can still win at the ballot box," said Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

I hope that is what she sincerely thinks happened, because as long as she doesn't get it, her campaigns will be ineffective.

Richard Socarides, who was an adviser on gay-rights issues in the Clinton administration, said the loss in Maine should prompt gay-rights leaders to reconsider their state-by-state strategy on marriage and shift instead to lobbying for changes on the federal level that expand recognition of same-sex couples.

What would that mean, exactly? It certainly isn't the federal government's role to redefine marriage. If we want to talk about federal employees being able to have reciprocal beneficiaries (in states where that isn't illegal, if there are any), I'm open to discussing that. Come to think of it, didn't President Obama issue an Executive Order to that effect? If we want to talk about federal tax recognition of state licensed brideless or groomless "marriages", I'm open to discussing that, too. But as a princple of general law, government has less interest in same-sex relationships than in bride+groom relationships.

I recognize that states are real governments, not districts of the federal government. I recognize that the people and the states retain what isn't Constitutionally assigned to the federal government. As such, neither Congress nor SCOTUS or any other federal court should tell a state it must neuter marriage licensing.