About 52-54% of New Jerseyians favor marriage equality

[bluestateguy]

A little too close for comfort for my taste. I'm sure those numbers will improve as more young people reach voting age, and more old folks who oppose marriage equality...um, well anyway:

It looks as if a referendum will have to be the way to go, much as I don't like the idea of putting civil rights up for a vote. You have to wait until November 2013 to get Fatso out of office, and then January 2014 at the earliest to get the legislature and new governor to act.

What worries me is that this fragile public support will not hold in a referendum amidst all of the noise and demagoguery of a campaign. All the NOM has to do is play the "ick" card and of course the little children card to scare people about gay marriage, a few million in demagogic ads should do the trick. Then throw in a scatterbrained, feckless and disorganized pro-equality campaign, sluggish turnout from the lazy young people who never seem to show up on election day, the fundies are all riled up and stampede the polling places, and voila, you wake up on Wednesday and find that marriage equality has lost 52%-48%.

[Politicalboi]

1. Even if they vote on it and it passes Gov.Crisco

Would probably support a prop 8 petition and hold things up for years. We need the federal government to step up and give gays equal rights throughout the US.

[customerserviceguy]

2. I'm not as pessimistic as you are

A very large percentage of people in NJ live within an hour and a half of a major metropolitan area. They've dealt with gay people in their everyday lives, and the appeals to the "ick factor" just wouldn't reasonate with people who are used to sorting out bullshit from fact.

Yes, there's the nominal Catholics out there who feel they have to say no to a pollster, but even some of them might not vote against it when they're in the secrecy of a voting booth.