Compare Alaska and Hawaii in 1998. That year, both states held votes on whether to amend their constitutions to ban same-sex marriage. It sent top strategist David Smith to the state for months, and it bought the nicest PR firm in Honolulu. By contrast, the organization didn't spend a dime in Alaska. Gay marriage is not a concept about which most folks have a hard time making up their minds.
Most people are against it, viscerally so.
Not that they like to admit that bias to polltakers. But the anti-gay side still won by 30 points when the real votes were counted. Of course, I don't really care if gay techie zillionaires in California want to spend their bucks on the No on Knight Campaign. But I'll be sitting this one out. John Cloud is a staff writer for Time .