Originally Posted By: peter
Out of interest, why is states' rights a Republican plank? Doesn't a desire for small government and reduced spending, pull against the idea of duplicating huge amounts of governmental structure? If I didn't know, I'd have guessed enthusiasm for states' rights to be a Democrat thing


I think it ties into the idea of a small(er) Federal government.
The idea is that states can go their own way on issues where regional consensus varies dramatically across the US.
Although, as Bitt points out, both sides have been picking and choosing on this topic for a long time.
Lately, Republicans seem to be all for states rights when you talk about guns or abortion, not so much when you talk about environmental regulations or gay marriage....