How Republicans Alienate Libertarians

So the GOP platform committee overwhelmingly rejected an amendment to support civil unions for gay couples. Barbara Ann Fenton did Rhode Island proud in arguing for support of gay marriage, stating "as a Roman Catholic, there’s nobody in this room who believes [more than I do] that the definition of marriage is between one man and one woman, but those are my religious beliefs, and this country was founded on the separation of church and state."

Romney advisor Kris Kobach, presumably speaking for many, likened gay marriage to drug use.

I oppose this amendment, I think the wording is too broad. Especially the last sentence: ‘As long as there are no infringements on the rights of others, It is not the role of government to judge.’ Well, our government routinely judges situations where you might regard people completely affecting themselves like, for example, the use of controlled substances, like, for example, polygamy that is voluntarily entered into. We condemn those activities even though they’re not hurting other people, at least directly.

That's the mainstream Republican viewpoint in a nutshell right there -- "We support freedom to do as you please so long as the activities you engage in are things we agree with. In cases where we don't like what you're doing, you have no freedom." -- and it's how Republicans alienate libertarians at a time when Republicans need all the help they can get.