“McConnell was asked twice about the judge's ruling overturning Proposition 8,” Dickerson writes. “He could have talked about activist judges, a favorite conservative punching bag. The judge in this case is from San Francisco, a city that in some conservative circles is an epithet. In 2004, a ruling on same-sex marriage from the Massachusetts Supreme Court inspired President George Bush to call for a constitutional amendment outlawing gay marriage. McConnell, though, just said he thought voters would be more worried about the economy.”

The logic is simple. “Both sides fear this,” explained a senior Democrat. “(This) election is all about independents who are ambivalent on (certain social issues) right now."

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A veteran national Republican strategist agreed, saying, “It raises an issue (Republicans would) rather not have to deal with ... (it’s) hard to walk to the line of opposing same sex-marriage and displaying enough tolerance to keep independents and Democrats comfortable enough to vote for you.”

Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia, put it simply: “A modern party does not want a campaign that’s built around a crusade on gay rights. ... it won’t work, for one thing, and for another, it’s so controversial that it would obscure the nonpartisan appeal of the economic issue.”

He added, "I don’t think that moderates and independents get very excited about this.”

In fact, the people who tend to get the most excited on both sides are the party’s bases. Yet this year, in both the Republican and Democratic ranks, the bases are already raring to go.

“An issue like this would normally become a flashpoint in a campaign as a result of the need to draw a clear contrast between parties or candidates,” GOP strategist Kevin Madden said. “But the main issue mobilizing voters right now is the economy. ... Move your focus off of the economy, and you risk losing your best issue.”

King, the Long Island congressman, said that in terms of social issues, the raging controversy over the Arizona border laws is providing more than enough ammunition for Republicans in key districts.

“The Arizona immigration law is there, there’s no reason to be raising an issue of gay rights” as a wedge, he said.