Land said conservative voters were more energized about same-sex marriage in the 2004 elections because Massachusetts had just become the first -- and so far only -- state to legalize it as a result of a state court ruling in 2003.
Since then, opponents of same-sex marriage have been on a roll. Twenty states have passed constitutional amendments banning it. Several courts, most recently in the states of Washington and New York, have ruled against it. Those victories, Land said, may have made some conservatives complacent.
"But whatever wind was pumped out of their sails has now been pumped back in," he said. "I frankly was amazed that the New Jersey judges issued their decision before the election."
Perkins agreed, saying that he "had long anticipated a bad ruling from New Jersey" and was glad that it occurred in time for voters to see the "very real and present danger" that same-sex marriage could spread. He spoke by telephone shortly before holding a news conference to denounce the New Jersey decision in South Dakota, one of the eight states with marriage amendments on the ballot. The others are Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin.
