Including per this poll, 37% of Pubs now, and apparently a majority of Pubs under 65 supporting SSM. A quarter of the voters now say they won't vote for a candidate who does not share their view on SSM. For those Pubs who have not got the memo yet, that SSM is toxic to them, and they need to get the issue off the table, this poll is yet another reminder. Presumably most Pub politicians are hoping that SCOTUS does the dirty little deed for them.
Republicans mistakenly believe that SSM is an issue they can take a comfortable moderate hero position on. Public perception has changed significantly even over the last 4 years.
The problem, of course, is that many Republicans keep insulated company and have little exposure to American culture as a whole. They simply don't understand the mind of a voter who flips on the issue. Most people change their minds on this issue based on emotion. If you change your mind on gay marriage because your cousin is gay, or because a coworker is gay, a rollback of gay marriage rights immediately looks like an attack on those people you know personally by the government. (Because, you know, it is.)
Correct, and in addition to 25% saying the issue is a deal killer in and of itself, close to another 50% of the voters think it is a very important issue. So it is an issue that Pub politicians can no longer count on not hurting them much, even if their position is now a minority one, and a diminishing minority to boot, because voters on the other side will just hit the ignore button, and give them a pass. Those days are indeed rapidly coming to an end. As time goes by, the issue has more and more salience, not less.
