Marc Solomon works with Freedom to Marry an organization lobbying for same-sex marriage. He also writes an occasional article for Salon. A recent one is about the effort in 2011 and 2012 to get Obama to complete his "evolution" and say he was in favor of same-sex marriage. It involved several steps, a few of which I wouldn't have guessed.
In Mid July of 2011 he and colleagues from Freedom to Marry asked pollsters from the Obama and Bush II campaigns to assess the national mood for gay marriage. It came back positive with indications support would only grow.
Towards the end of 2011 came meetings with White House staff. Obama continued to be supportive of our causes, which the staff was eager to point out. But an election was looming. Would a declaration for same-sex marriage help or hurt?
Time for indirect pressure. In February of 2012 Solomon and his team began contacting Democratic Senators and other party leaders and asked them to support a plank in the party platform in favor of same-sex marriage. It would be difficult for Obama to try to defeat it or ignore it. Of course, there were twists and turns along the way.
Then in May VP Biden gave his support. And three days later the Prez. did the same.
The story is much more personal than a news report would be. I guess it is an example of effective lobbying. I'm glad these people are on our side. I suspect the corporate and Fundie lobbyists are much better at the game (and can pass around much bigger checks) than these people are.
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