Gay Marriage Now Legal In Obama Administration?

Gay Marriage Now Legal In Obama Administration?

President Barack Obama's sudden change of views regarding same sex marriage is now being put in the spotlight.  The question is:  “How would this affect his candidacy?”

A Democratic senator who supports gay marriage as well as Obama's re-election told Yahoo News that the president would face "significant electoral risk" if his announcement is merely a show in order to appease the gay community, thus vying for their votes.

Obama has been known to oppose gay marriage right from the start.  This is actually a case of a sudden “wind of change.”

The president also conceded saying, "I had hesitated on gay marriage in part because I thought civil unions would be sufficient, that that was something that would give people hospital visitation rights and other elements that we take for granted, and I was sensitive to the fact that for a lot of people, you know, the word 'marriage' was something that evokes very powerful traditions, religious beliefs, and so forth."

Richard Socarides, a leading gay activist who served as President Bill Clinton's top adviser on issues such as same-sex marriage, said "nobody expects the president to make this a central feature of his presidency, but it is an important issue."

Other Obama supporters pointed out that the country has been "evolving" on the issue about gay marriage along with the president’s view.

But political analysts also point to working-class, white, religious voters in pivotal states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, and conservative-leaning independents in other important states like Iowa and Nevada as potentially put off by Obama's new position.

Speaking to reporters after a campaign event in Oklahoma City, Romney said his position on same sex marriage was unchanged.

"I have the same view on marriage that I had when I was governor. I believe marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman," Romney said.

Posted by James Fried on Friday May 11 2012, 4:38 AM EST. Ref: CNN. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Nation. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0