A reader points to another "measure of progress":
In 2004, the GOP pushed anti-gay-marriage amendments in 11 states in order to drive conservative voter turnout in the general election. Bush may well have carried Ohio because of the amendment, and amendments likely tipped some number of Congressional elections. Less than a decade later, the North Carolina amendment was scheduled for a primary election, rather than a general, because even in a state well to the right of Ohio, Michigan and Oregon (which all passed anti-gay-marriage amendments by wide margins in 2004), this amendment would've likely failed in a high-turnout election today.
The Dish 