Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, the Republican presidential frontrunner, appeared on ABC's This Week yesterday and told ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl that he would call for and support a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
KARL: If the Supreme Court establishes that same sex marriage is a constitutional right, does that effectively end this as a political issue in this campaign?
WALKER: Well, I personally believe that marriage is between one man and one woman. If the court decides that, the only next approach is for those who are supporters of marriage being defined as between one man and one woman is ultimately to consider pursuing a constitutional amendment.
KARL: So you would favor a constitutional amendment that would say that states are allowed to ban same sex marriage.
WALKER: I believe that the decision on defining marriage should be left up to the states, yeah.
It's apparent that Republican presidential candidates (and whoever the eventual nominee is) will ride the "it should be left up to the states" line all the way to the general election. And they will lose, because this is far from the only issue where the party platform is out of step with mainstream public opinion.
Walker, for his part, has demonstrated himself to be an absolutist on abortion, pledging to sign 20-week ban with no exceptions for rape or incest, and he has even spoken out against legal immigration.
Given that he is the current frontrunner, Walker's positions necessarily push the rest of the party in these directions if they weren't headed there already.