Obama: 'I think same sex couples should be able to get married'. Impact on election?

First off I applaud the President's statement... but I also think he has been lying by omission for years now and it is about time he got honest. But in his defense, public support for gay rights is a political hot potato and I bet many politicians keep their support "in the closet". It really bothers me that politicians outright lie or lie by omission because a current political view they hold is not popular. I would think a principled person would clearly state their views no matter how unpopular they be... that is a leader to me. But alas, no President will ever live up to my high standards, because I understand that if a politician were to be completely honest on ALL things, they would never get elected or in this case reelected.

Now I am making some big assumptions on Obama's believes on gay rights in the past... I just have a hard time believing that his now public support for gay marriage is a "new" belief.

How do you think Obama's support on gay marriage will effect the election?

This may surprise some, but I am a Conservative and support gay rights... not special rights, but equal rights. This is the land of the free... not the land of the free only if you fit into the majority view.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_new...ex-couples-should-be-able-to-get-married?lite

 

I think most feel the same as the President on this issue

 

I already answered this in the 4 other ongoing threads about this subject..

I'm tired

 

He picked up the Fa...I mean Gay vote...wait, he already had that, so actually he lost votes. Keep it up Barry. You are your own worse enemy. Now how about guns...how do you feel about them?

 

He will be everything to everyone that he can. He will hunt ducks with his rifle like Bill to get a vote.

 

I will say its brave of him given that it can only hurt him rather than help him. Keep in mind though that the gay lobby is quite strong and can help immensely with the grass roots campaign but doubt would be enough.

For any person, coming to terms with whether homosexuality is right or not is tough enough, but for a politician it is even more so given that it will ultimately influence future policy particularly when the politician in question happens to be the President of the US. The political implications just makes the issue more complicated.

 

Why do you so-called conservatives hate freedom so much?

I don't think it will have a huge impact. The people that will vote against him because of that issue would not have voted for him anyway on several other reasons. It will turn out some donations and some gay votes, but not a huge amount.

Nice to see an actual conservative, as in, someone who genuinely supports more freedom.

 

Lets see now 30 states have, by the will of the people, voted against same sex marriage making it illegal so those same 30 states will now vote for Romney. I think it's great Obama came out of the closet and flip flopped on this.

 

I tend to agree. I think he will further strengthen his base but at the cost of some swing votes. It will be impossible for him to reconcile his Christian faith with his support for gay marriage... not that it matters.

Many that claim to love freedom do everything in their power to shove their view of freedom down the throat of everyone else... bow down to MY view of freedom, else WE the majority will ostracize you... kind of defeats the whole spirit of freedom... sounds more akin to a dictatorship IMO...

 

It's a low risk move at this point. The Democratic Party has come to the realization that gay rights is a winning issue for them ever since Senate Republicans made fools of themselves during the don't ask don't tell debate. The majority of swing voters are moderates, and favor the liberal position on gay marriage. The only people who are going to have a problem with it are christian conservatives, and they aren't voting Democratic no matter what.

 

Which is why they lost in 30 states making it illegal for gays to marry. That's 30 states that won't vote for Obama.

 

HA! California won't vote for Obama? That's rich.

 

1) Most of those states are flyover crapholes with few electoral votes. The ones that aren't (like California) are so heavily Democrat it won't matter.
2) Most of those votes took place in the early 2000's, through 2004. That is ancient history in terms of public opinion. Public opinion nationwide now favors legalization, especially among swing voters, who are disgusted by the so-called conservatives' behavior on this issue.

How so? It's been a relatively easy reconciliation for me.

Freedom is obvious in marriage rights, since marriage literally affects no one besides the people involved. That's why all marriages made among consenting adults should be legal.

This is easy to understand when you look at the basis of a free society. In a free society, everything is legal until it is proven that directly harms someone else. Since a marriage cannot possibly hurt someone else merely by existing, there is no reason to outlaw any marriage among consenting adults.

 

Obama flip flops and the left see it as good? Let Obama continue his war on Christians and he will be gone. That is the best thing that could happen for this country

 

To be fair changing positions from favoring civil unions to favoring gay marriage isn't as much a flip flop as another step in the direction you were already leaning. Changing from being pro choice to pro life is a flip flop. One end to the other.

 

Also should you good people be correct, and supporting gay marriage is a political death sentence for Obama that makes the act actually a courageous, and bold move for what he believes is right. For myself I think it's just a relatively safe no brainer of a move, but if yall are right I have to give him some props.

 

No flip flop here! Obama has always been inclined to recognize gay rights of every kind. . .he was already in favor of civil unions for gays in 2008. . . and he got rid of DADT.
This is a very logical and positive social evolution that is happening across the United States (with maybe the exception of the usual backward crowd centered around the Bible belt and hyper religious addicts).

Do you see the additional 25+% of Americans who have evolved to SUPPORTING gay marriage since 1996 as "flip floppers" too?

How about the White who wouldn't sit next to a Black person on a bus in the early 1960's, but had no problem sitting next to Black people, drinking from the same water fountains, and using the same restrooms later in the 1960's, were they ALSO flip floppers?

 

I think your quote below you explain this just fine.

It has been my experience that Christians that vote based upon their faith first are overwhelmingly Republican... thus Obama supporting gay marriage will not really effect anything as he will not get that vote anyway. But it will be interesting to see if his Church takes action against him... although I have no clue as to what flavor of Christianity he belongs to.

 

Obama like Kerry was against it before he was for it

 

It is all about if Obama thinks it will get votes. This is not about Obama supporting anything

 

I think he has been pro gay marriage the whole time... no proof here, just my gut feeling... and his supporting civil union was just a way to test the political waters. I could be wrong.

 

I think you're wrong!
There has been an evolution within many of the major religions also, but even if the "party line" of specific religions still look at homosexuality as "sinful," many groups within those Churches have taken a much more subtle approach and several even support gay rights.

 

Obama was never against civil unions or equal protection under the law for homosexual couples. Neither was Kerry. Your reply is a complete diversion from the point made in the post you quoted.

 

Who knows. It doesn't matter as a politician his positions are always going to be what he thinks he can win with. Never forget it about him or anyone who is in politics for any period of time.

 

Then why do so many of your little friends think that it will cost him the election?

You guys have engaged in so much spin of everything Obama does that you have turned yourself into pretzels, and you don't know where you're coming from or where you're going!

I personally would have voted for Obama either way. . .but I am glad he came to a decision about his own feelings about gay marriage (as it was clear he would sooner or later, as he was already in favor of civil union and other gay rights!), and that he has expressed his new position clearly at this time.
But. . .he is not the only one! Only 25% of Americans supported gay marriage in 1996, when DOMA passed. . .today OVER 50% of American do support gay marriage.

Are ALL these people changing their position to get votes?