I went to the Globe this morning to check out the latest Kerry/Dean polls, and
stayed for Gay Marriage.
Massachusetts residents, by a solid margin, said they supported the Supreme Judicial Court's landmark decision legalizing gay marriage, according to a Boston Globe/WBZ-TV poll.
The poll of 400 people, the first survey of Bay State residents since the court's historic ruling, indicated that 50 percent agreed with the justices' decision, and 38 percent opposed it. Eleven percent expressed no opinion.
The poll also indicated that a majority opposed efforts by the Legislature, Governor Mitt Romney, and Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly to block same-sex marriages and allow civil unions instead.
Will this be enough to cool the heel of Romney, Reilly, and the legislature's Democratic leadership to subvert the court's decision?
It gets worse for supporters of a state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage:
A majority, 53 percent, also opposed a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would ban same-sex marriages by defining marriage as an institution between a man and a woman. Thirty-six percent supported the amendment.
The amendment would have to be approved by voters to go into effect, and the results suggested it may face an uphill fight. The earliest it could be on the ballot is November 2006 -- 2 1/2 years after the SJC's ruling becomes effective.
And what's most amazing about this poll, it's that support for gay marriage in MA has
increased since the court's decision, bucking national polls showing the numbers heading the other direction.
In April, a Globe/WBZ-TV poll of 400 Massachusetts residents found 50 percent supported gay marriage and 44 percent opposed it.
Polls like this one give opponents of the decision much less wiggle room with which to navigate. It will be interesting to see if Romney capitulates to public opinion.
The only other parallel is Vermont, and Dean didn't capitulate to polls showing strong opposition to civil unions. Romny is under no obligation to back off. But such pressure will be far more effective if placed on members of the state legislature. I worked in the Mass. state Senate as a legislative aide. I know first-hand the power of a few phone calls or letters.