Obama's Coming Out Is Having Negative Consequences

When the President announced he was in support of gay marriage, I'm sure that the his reelection team thought they had a winner by being able shore up the the liberal base and, at the same time, garner votes from independents.  After all, the polls seem to indicate that a majority of Americans are in support of same-sex marriage.  But, in reality, he may have actually done more harm than good by fracturing that  base.   The New York Times is reporting that several Black pastor's expressed concern over the President's "coming out" on the same-sex marriage issue.  Some even saying that they would not support his reelection.  Then, too, many Catholics -- already at odds with Obama over forced contraception insurance coverage -- are probably further offended by his new stand.  This is especially true for Catholic Latinos.  In fact, gay marriage is at odds with many other religions as well. This is most likely why -- in direct contradiction to the polls -- so many states have successfully banned same-sex marriage when the issue has actually been put to a vote. 

I personally think the same-sex marriage decision was a mistake.  Obama knows this, and this is why, in 2008, when running for the presidency, he said he supported civil unions and not same-sex marriage.
(Click here to see Obama in a Panel Discussion on the topic) This 2008 position was in direct contradiction to his prior support of same-sex marriage when he ran for the U.S. Senate.  It appears that the President's evolving positions are more like a revolving door; coming back to what he actually believed all the time.  But, the crassness of changing positions to simply get votes may also turn some voters off. Especially those who voted for him in 2008 when they were under the false impression that he was against same-sex marriage.