Gay Marriage Losing Punch as Ballot Issue

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Gay Marriage Losing Punch as Ballot Issue
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By KIRK JOHNSON
Published: October 14, 2006
DENVER, Oct. 13 — The debate over same-sex marriage was a black-or-white proposition two years ago when voters in 11 states barred gay couples from marrying.


Carmel Zucker for The New York Times
H. J. Ledbetter at home in Centennial on Tuesday with signs for Coloradans for Marriage. One ballot measure there would ban same-sex marriage; another would create rights for same-sex couples in civil unions.


Peter Wynn Thompson for The New York Times
Jackie Scully, left, canvassing for Fair Wisconsin, talked with Jean Suchomel on Tuesday in Madison about voting on a proposed constitutional amendment that would define marriage as between a man and a woman.
But this year shades of gray are everywhere, as eight more states consider similar ballot measures. Some of the proposed bans are struggling in the polls, and the issue of same-sex marriage itself has largely failed to rouse conservative voters.

In some cases, other issues, like the war in Iraq and ethics in Washington, have seized voters’ attention. But the biggest change, people on both sides of the issue say, is that supporters of same-sex marriage this year are likely to be as mobilized as the opponents.

The social conservatives, who focused on marriage in 2004 and helped President Bush gain re-election in some hard-fought states in the Midwest, have been offset by equally committed and organized opposition. Slick advertising, paid staff and get-out-the-vote drives have become a two-way street.

More at: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/14/us/politics/14marriage.html?_r=2&hp&ex=1160884800&en=882b3ae02a33&oref=slogin&oref=login