I think so, and so does this blogger.

“It could not have been clearer if it had quoted from the Bible,” – John C. Green, a University of Akron professor who studies religion and politics. According to the Washington Post, “Green described one piece of mail from the Bush campaign that featured a beautiful church and a traditional nuclear family. It was headlined, ‘George W. Bush shares your values. Marriage. Life. Faith.'” That’s how they did it. The war was not the issue. Gays were.

Is there some irony here, that Sullivan has pounded the gay mariage drum louder than anyone, and now his dream has backfired, providing invaluable grist for Rove’s GOTV mill?

I’d have to say it is ironic, and maybe Sully should have known better. I’ve never been a vocal advocate of the issue because, while I believe in it, I know it’s an idea whose time hasn’t come — certainly not in Puritan America, where the sight of Janet Jackson’s breast on TV could set off a whirlwind of self-righteous indignation and horror.

I know a lot of Republican voters couldn’t give a damn about this, and voted for bush because they believe he’s more serious on national security or a stronger leader or he stays the course or whatever. But this issue, gay marriage, was the heart and soul of Rove’s successful appeal to get out the new conservative voters, and it worked brilliantly, with 22 percent of bush voters saying it was moral issues, not Iraq or Osama or tax cuts, that impelled them to pull the lever. Many hadn’t voted in the last election. The ingredient that got them out was homophobia, with anti-gay-marriage proposals on the ballot in 11 states.

So again, gay marriage wasn’t the only reason bush won. But it was the driving force behind the upsurge in right-wing voters who propoelled the GOP over the top. As Sully says, gays were the issue.