NOM Robo-Calling About Marriage Equality in DC

The National Organization for Marriage is sponsoring robo-calling of DC residents asking if they think marriage should be between only one man and one woman.   Since marriage equality is now a fact in the city the reasons for this survey might not be apparent.  There have been many polls on the issue already which show a majority of DC voters approve of same-sex marriage.  And while opponents have had success at the polls in state-wide elections they typically do not carry the urban areas.  And now that same sex marriage is legal, the fear mongering that the opponents resort to will not have the same effect.  Gay people tend to have the same issues about marriage that heterosexuals have.  So what could be the reasoning for such a survey?

The best guess would be fund-raising.  While it might be expensive to send a fund raising letter to every voter in DC, it will be much more cost-effect to target people who have indicated they are opposed to equal treatment of gay people.  When the banks of telephone solicitors start gearing up it will be most beneficial to place calls to the homes where people support your position.  Opponents of same sex marriage have been very ineffective at stirring up city voters to support their position (Harry Jackson announced his last protest, to be held at the Capitol Visitors Center, but the event never came off.  He probably thought he would look silly there alone.)  But that doesn't mean they have given up on making a buck off of it.

It should also be noted that Stand4MarriageDC failed to report its contributions and expenditures on March 10th.  They had a considerable surplus of funds on hand according the the January 31st filing.

Comments

[Peter Montgomery]

I don't think it's most likely for fundraising, but for early voter identification. NOM does small-dollar fundraising but has relied on major individual and institutional donors from around the country to fund their anti-gay activities in DC. I think this is about trying to build a much larger database of DC residents who, at least according to their poll's confusion wording, are inclined to support their position. That gives them a better chance at mobilizing public demonstrations (as you correctly noted, Jackson's efforts have failed miserably, relying on people bused in from outside the District) and more importantly, to back anti-gay candidates in challenges to DC councilmembers. NOM has made it clear that they're waging a long-term political strategy - are going to try to build campaigns against pro-equality officials in northeast states, Iowa, and now DC. I don't think they're going to be successful, but this is a sign that they aren't going away.