As one anti-gay marriage group sees it, they make up the bulk of “New York Senators that Betrayed Marriage.” Their bio photos appearing, black-and-white, in a newly minted flyer, the four Republican senators who voted in favor of marriage equality Friday are a prime target of a campaign launched by the National Organization for Marriage — one that claims to be pouring at least $2 million into the battle.

Whether that dollar figure is accurate — or how it will be spent in the marriage equality battle at large — is an open question. NOM said it would spend $500,000 on advertising and lobbying to fight the marriage equality campaign in New York, but insiders estimated the size of their TV buy at less than $200,000, and their ground game appeared paltry compared to the coalition of advocates that raised an estimated $2 million, more than half of it from Republicans and affiliated sources.

Still, no one takes lightly the threats from NOM and other marriage equality opponents, including the Conservative Party of New York State, which has vowed to withhold its influential endorsement, and possibly mount primary challenges against, any Republican who voted for the bill. The fate of the four senators, whom Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, called “people of courage,” will send a signal to other states where advocates hope to carry momentum next, and it will provide the ultimate testimony to how the gay community treats its friends, regardless of party affiliation.

Full Story from The Advocate

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