Rick Perry: I support constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage and abortion

"Two caveats to his otherwise strict support for the Tenth Amendment, both of which happen to serve the agenda of social conservatives whose votes he’s depending on. He backed away from his “states’ rights” defense of legalizing gay marriage last week; here’s the inevitable climbdown on abortion too, which he described as a states’ rights issue a few days ago."

Hmm.  I don't like this.  However:

Constitutional amendments cannot be imposed at the Federal level, requiring ratification by three-fourths of the states. So the fact that a President favors an amendment does not decide anything; it's still up to the states.  3/4 is a very tough hill to climb, as the failure of the Equal Rights Amendment demonstrated.

If this is Perry's strategic thinking, then it could be smart -- get credit from social conservatives for what is essentially lip service for something that has no chance of passing.

Is Perry playing the game at two levels?

He's known to be a shrewd operator.  But if social conservatives decide they are being gamed, it could backfire.

We shall see.

Byron