President Obama Supports Referendum 74 on Gay Marriage

President Obama gave his backing Thursday to Referendum 74, the measure to approve gay marriage in Washington state.

"While the president does not weigh in on every single ballot measure in every state, the president believes in treating everyone fairly and equally, with dignity and respect,” according to a statement from an Obama campaign spokesman. “Washington's same-sex marriage law would treat all Washington couples equally, and that is why the President supports a vote to approve Referendum 74."

Washington is one of four states with a gay marriage measure on the Nov. 6 ballot. Here’s the text of those ballot measures.

”President Obama's support for marriage reflects what’s happening in Washington and across the country. As more people, and more voters, realize that only marriage fully protects and supports families, they move towards supporting marriage for same-sex couples and approving Referendum 74," Washington United for Marriage Campaign Manager Zach Silk said. “We’re now in the home stretch, mobilizing thousands of volunteers with the largest ground game in Washington ballot history. We feel momentum is on our side, and having the President weigh in on approving Referendum 74 puts an extra gust of wind in our sails.”

Meanwhile, a poll conducted by Seattle-based Elway Research released Oct. 24 shows it's a closer race than previous polls indicated.

Last month’s Elway Poll showed 51 percent of respondents would approve R-74 and 37 percent of respondents would reject the measure. The poll released Wednesday shows that 49 percent of respondents surveyed Oct. 18-21 would approve Referendum 74, while 45 percent would reject it. The new numbers indicate that the race is a statistical dead heat, because the margin of error is 4.5 percentage points. 

“This poll shows the progress our campaign has made in the past few weeks, having moved the numbers 10 points in our direction since the last Elway Poll,” said Frank Schubert, campaign manager for Preserve Marriage Washington, which urges voters to reject R-74. “This survey is bad news for supporters of Referendum 74 which would redefine marriage in Washington state. Our opponents have had the airwaves to themselves for months before our TV ads started only recently, and they’re outspending us by a margin of seven-to-one. Despite this, support for the referendum is dropping and opposition is rising rapidly.”

What do you think of the president’s support? How do you plan to vote on R-74? Tell us in the comments.