During the early Obama years, I was invited to address the Republican committee of a rural county in the Deep South. One of the members asked why I thought the GOP had lost the recent election. I replied that it had turned its back on the principle of localism: federal spending had soared, states’ rights had been trampled, Washington had presumed to dictate policy on everything from education to gay marriage.

Even as I spoke the words, I winced inwardly. Gay marriage: not the wisest example to bring before the Republican Committee of a rural county in the Deep South. Sure enough, after I had finished, an enormous man with sunburn and a beard swaggered over to me.