Obama’s Gay Marriage Support Triggers Dramatic Shift In Attitudes Among Black Voters
Tom Kludt May 24, 2012, 1:04 PM
An endorsement of same-sex marriage was long considered risky for President Obama because of the expected backlash from the African-American community. Few seemed to consider the alternative, which polling suggests is playing out instead: Rather than changing their minds about the president, some black voters are reconsidering gay marriage.
A pair of polls released in the last week suggest Obama’s highly publicized announcement may have helped trigger a shift in attitudes among African-Americans, a historically socially conservative voting bloc, in states where same-sex marriage has been at the forefront of public debate. On Thursday, Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling (PPP) released the results of a survey showing that the state law legalizing same-sex marriage in Maryland is a strong favorite to be upheld by voters in November, with 57 percent of likely voters saying they will vote for the referendum and only 37 percent intending to vote against.
The poll, commissioned by Marylanders for Marriage Equality, also revealed marked movement among Maryland’s black voters, 55 percent of whom now say they will support the new law. That marks a dramatic flip since PPP’s previous survey in March, when 56 percent of African-American Maryland voters said they would vote against the measure, which was passed by the state legislature and signed into law by Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) earlier this year.
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/05/barack-obama-gay-marriage-black-voters.php?ref=fpb
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