Uhh, I was just making a glib joke about specifically the "zip code" aspect of the statement...

Well, if every state had the same laws we wouldn't have a fallback position. We thankfully have the option of pushing to change federal law when the opportunity arises, but as we've seen since the election there's a degree of flimsiness there. Having strong state-level legislation in places where it isn't too controversial preserves better policy through bad administrations. We can continue to serve as an example and build support, and it gives people somewhere to go if they need to get out of their own states.

Without more atomic and variable state laws, it would be much harder to make real progress at a national level. The EU's model of smaller nations banding together lends itself to a similar strategy. It means you can build consensus at the local level, show that what you want works, and build out from there.

I'd love to see more of the policies we have locally applied to a national level, but they certainly wouldn't get there if we didn't have a more isolated arena in which to develop them. Conservatives can take advantage of localized political development too, but they lack the benefit of not being evil.