Your point is interesting. The dem party also has disagreement over gay marriage and Todd Aiken only made one comment I know of that was inaccurate and his race was only relevant to Missouri. Dem’s make offensive comments frequently and J Biden, for example, makes comments, weekly, that suggest he is undiplomatic and too foolish to have in a seat just one step away from the Presidency. Wouldn’t those points matter to libertarians? I suggest a more predictive answer may be found in education and media propaganda. Most people simply don’t know better. Those are just my assessments. I appreciate your post and am not criticizing.
Thanks for your response. I have no response for why Joe Biden gets away with being perhaps the dumbest man to ever occupy the office of Vice President, when virtually everyone on our side, going back as far as Dan Quayle, George W. Bush, and Sarah Palin get branded as morons. You are likely correct with the media propaganda and education.
As for the other issues, I never found myself feeling this way before until recently. I'm a relatively young voter (under 30), grew up in a small rural town up north, pretty much sheltered by people that all thought the same as me (most of my like-aged friends were also conservative). Now, living in the midst of a youthful, southern city, I'm surrounded by people of different upbringings but similar ages. Many are conservative. Many are not. I've tempered my distaste for those that think differently, because otherwise I'd find myself isolated. But I am deeply interested in figuring out why they think how they think.
What I've found when asking them is a lot of the expected - largely, their beliefs start from how their parents think, but their thought process has to develop on its own afterwards. I have spoken with some liberals who call the Republican party a party of hate, predicated around those two issues. Todd Akin may live in Missouri but in this election, his words were an albatross around the necks of Republicans across the country.
Gay marriage is an issue that, as you said, conflicts some Democrats, but the dichotomy of vitriol against the opposing side is astounding. Those younger voters that aren't for it, that I can tell, may find homosexuality wrong (or more commonly, disgusting), but they don't really care about the issue. It's not a pivotal issue for them, and many that don't support gay marriage would be happy to just let the issue die with civil unions. Those that are for gay marriage, however, brand the Republican party again as a party of hate, one that is for "holding down" a group of people, and vehemently oppose any Republicans based on this one issue.
The libertarians, especially, view the gay marriage issue as one not worth fighting over at best, and at worst, a dealbreaker. It makes sense as one of the core principles of libertarianism is about individual rights, with the "live and let live" philosophy. The absolute best example of this way of thinking is by Michael Arrington, a Silicon Valley millionaire who has started and sold many businesses and invested in many more. Although he's older than my demo that I was referring to earlier (he's 42), I still think the article reflects the feeling of a lot of libertarians I've talked to: No More Republicans for Me.
I have my opinions and I've been careful to leave them out of this post for it's not relevant. This has merely been my observation about younger voters in a swing state and the need to address them if Republicans plan on attracting these voters as they age.