Editing Federal Marriage Amendment (section)

===Influence on 2004 presidential election===
By the time Americans went to the polls, [[John Kerry]] opposed the Federal Marriage Amendment and affirmatively supported civil unions, while [[George W. Bush]] supported the Federal Marriage Amendment but was not opposed to states enacting their own civil union legislation.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/16/us/campaign-2004-renewed-state-efforts-made-against-same-sex-marriage.html?pagewanted=all|title=Renewed State Efforts Made Against Same-Sex Marriage|last=Dao|first=James|date=July 16, 2004|work=The New York Times|access-date=June 16, 2009}}</ref>

Previously, on February 24, 2004, Bush called for an amendment which would have outlawed same-sex marriage, and which would have disallowed states from recognizing or enforcing same-sex civil unions. Bush's statement included a requirement that any amendment "leav[e] the state legislatures free to make their own choices in defining legal arrangements other than marriage."<ref>Bush, George W. (February 24, 2004) [https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/02/20040224-2.html President Calls for Constitutional Amendment Protecting Marriage] [[United States President]]. Retrieved August 18, 2007.</ref> The White House partly clarified Bush's position in a February 24, 2004 press conference<ref>McClellan, Scott. (February 24, 2004) [https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/02/20040224-5.html Press Briefing] [[White House]]. Retrieved June 30, 2006.</ref> with White House Press Secretary [[Scott McClellan]], who stated that by calling on the FMA to permit states the possibility of creating other "legal arrangements," Bush specifically meant to permit states the chance of enacting civil unions. (McClellan also stated, however, that Bush did not personally support civil unions.) Similarly, at the February 25, 2004 press conference,<ref>McClellan, Scott. (February 25, 2004) [https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/02/20040225-7.html Press Briefing] [[White House]]. Retrieved June 30, 2006.</ref> McClellan stated that the White House intended to work with Congress to develop language for the FMA that permitted states to enact civil unions. Although Bush frequently spoke about FMA on the campaign from February and November 2004, he avoided mention of the phrase "civil unions" until an ABC News interview of October 26, 2004, aired one week before the election.<ref>(October 26, 2004) [https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna6338458 "Bush's gay union stance irks conservatives"] [[Associated Press]]. Retrieved June 30, 2006.</ref>

The FMA's Republican co-sponsors, Senator [[Wayne Allard]] (R-CO) and Representative [[Marilyn Musgrave]] (R-CO), announced new language for the proposed amendment on March 23, 2004, replacing the second sentence of the amendment with "Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman." Both Allard and Musgrave called the change purely "technical."<ref>[http://www.religioustolerance.org/mar_amend4.htm Federal Marriage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Recent events up to 2004 MAY] ReligiousTolerance.org. Retrieved June 30, 2006.</ref>

Opponents of the FMA claim polling of the public has shown a cautious response, with a number of polls indicating opposition, even in states such as [[Arizona]] and [[Colorado]] which were  thought of as socially conservative at the time. They cite [[Pew Research Center]] exit polls from the 2004 elections finding that 25% of polled voters support same-sex marriage and another 35% support civil unions.<ref>Goodstein, Laurie; Yardley, William. (November 5, 2004) [https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/05/politics/campaign/05religion.html Bush Benefits From Efforts to Build a Coalition of the Faithful] ''[[The New York Times]]''. Retrieved April 26, 2007.</ref>

On the other hand, of the 11 states in which amendments defining marriage were on the ballot, all passed handily. Bush won in nine, including [[Ohio]]. Interpretation of some exit polling suggests that the amendments may have brought out one million additional voters, most of which came out for the first time to cast their ballots for Bush.<!-- Dead Link<ref>http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20041105/ts_alt_afp/us_vote_bush_religion&cid=1506&ncid=1963&sid=96378801 {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}</ref> --> Notably, a vast majority of these states have not voted for a Democrat in years. The two states that Bush did not win, Michigan and Oregon, still passed amendments limiting official recognition of marriage to one man one woman unions.

However, Roberta Combs, President of the [[Christian Coalition of America]] claims, "Christian evangelicals made the major difference once again this year." In the [[2000 United States presidential election|2000 presidential election]], there was some speculation that a number of evangelicals did not go to the polls and vote because of the [[October surprise]] of George W. Bush's drunk-driving arrest record. In a dozen swing states that decided the presidential election, moral values tied with the economy and jobs as the top issue in the campaign, according to Associated Press exit polls.<!-- Dead Link<ref>https://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041104/ap_on_el_pr/eln_how_bush_won_2 {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}</ref> -->