The Vanderbilt Torch

Keeping Uncle Sam Out of the Marriage Business

While the public debate surrounding homosexual marriage rights rages in California, Washington D.C., and even here at Vanderbilt, Unitarian clergy are being shuffled off for booking in New York for marrying gay couples while mayors and county clerks in other cities grant marriage licenses without fear of pilice reprisal.

Libertarian Party Becoming Irrelevant

For the largest third party in America, the Libertarian Party never quite manages to make it to the big time. To say that the Libertarians generally fail to make an impressive showing would be a vast understatement, but why exactly has a party which is built around people who agree on a clear, consistent set of driving principles failed to garner more than a few thousand votes in its three-decade history? The answer lies partly in the politics of the party and partly in the American electorate.