When Newsom brought the issue front and center last year, Democratic leaders were split. U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the state's senior senator, said the matter was "too much, too fast, too soon." Sen. Barbara Boxer -- then running for a third term -- left her position vague, saying same-sex marriage should be left up to the states.
The party dynamics now, however, are far different. The top Democrats in the gubernatorial primary next June -- state Controller Steve Westly and Treasurer Phil Angelides, neither particularly well known across the state -- are competing for liberal support. Both said Wednesday that they would have signed the marriage bill.
"Signing this bill would have moved California forward on the right side of history," Angelides said. Westly said the issue was "solely about respect and equality -- nothing else."
As much as it affects the race for governor, however, the same-sex marriage issue could also affect a matter before voters in November: Proposition 77, which would strip lawmakers of their power to draw district maps. Some campaign strategists said lawmakers' approval of same-sex marriage could buttress the case that the safe seats they drew for themselves have filled the Legislature with ideologues who can ignore the popular will.
There is a clear ideological cant to the issue, according to a poll last month by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California.
Overall, it found that 46% of those likely to vote in November favor legalizing same-sex marriage, and 46% oppose it. While 56% of both Democrats and independents favored same-sex marriage, 68% of Republicans opposed it.
Mark Baldassare, research director at the institute, said Republican opposition to gay marriage has remained steadfast over the last five years. But the spate of gay weddings in San Francisco, along with the legalization of same-sex marriage in Canada, Spain and other countries, appears to have weakened opposition among Democrats and independents, he said.
Baldassare, and Democratic analysts, believe that as a result, same-sex marriage has joined the list of social issues such as abortion and gun control that California voters weigh to take the conservative measure of a Republican running for statewide office. Republicans who take conservative stands on such issues tend to win party primaries in the state but run into trouble in general elections.
