You're right in questioning the right of the government to our personla lives, but there are some thingsa that they have to and are going to have their hands in, and the rights of couples when it comes to things like inheritance, property rights, tax breaks, hospital visitation and other such things are always going to need a "yes" or "no" from the highest level to keep people from being discriminated against.

It's the same reason we needed laws specifically stating that black people or women had the same rights as white men. Not because we should have to be told these things by our government, but because we have to ensure people are not DENIED these things.

Thanks!

First off, thank you for your opinion, I love hearing others voices. I agrtee that the best course of action would most likely be a federal constitution change, and amendment making any two people eligible to become "partners" and gain the rights/tax breaks/privileges that a man-woman married couple gain today and simply leave it at that.

The argument that marriage equality as is being asked for now would increase the burden on taxpayers is a dubious one considering the Billions in estimated revenue the wedding & engagement business sector alone would see and the taxes associated with those billions, anmd that's without even considering vacation revenue, incrteased coverage of partners under corporate health care leaving less "partners" uninsured, and many other financial benefits that thousands upon thousands of newly married couples/year would bring.

As to what "privileges" they want? Well not being a homosexual myself I cannot personally say, but judging from the hjomosexual couples that I know and speak to, it's pretty simple. They want each and every thing that a married man and woman get from the federal, state and local governments they deal with. If a man-woman union would get $8000 for buying a house, then the same-sex couple should as well. If the man-woman couple would get a break on their car insurance for being married, then the same sex couple should as well. It's not complicated, it's Equality.

Thank you for your comment, I really appreciate hearing other people's points, it's part of the reason I'm writing these pieces.

As to the fivethirtyeight statistics, when you read their explanation of the process behind their numbers, you'll see they are much more than just "odds" like you would find at a horse track or in Vegas.  It's true the numbers can change, but they are not as volotile or quick moving as the kind of odds you're thinking of.

I agree that the VP debate won't (and didn't seem to) have much of an effect on independent voters or the democratic base, it was all about the republican base, and Palin's performance did seem to steady her base numbers from their downward slide, so I'm sure she accomplished what she wanted.