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Black voters will stick with Obama, even if he backs gay marriage
http://www.thegrio.com/opinion/black-voters-will-stick-with-obama-even-if-he-backs-gay-marriage.php
President Barack Obama has arguably done more than any other president for the LGBT community. He was proactive on repealing prohibitions on gays and lesbians serving openly in the armed forces, and last year, his administration announced it wouldn't defend in court the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law banning the recognition of same-sex marriages.
These actions make his reluctance to lead on marriage equality and an executive order on workplace protections for gay and transgender Americans all the more frustrating for activists. Pollsters think he's worried what voters will think if he comes out fully in support of marriage equality, but it's questionable whether this would really hurt his re-election chances.
***SNIP
Cillizza has the polling data correct, but his analysis is off base. My colleague Ruy Teixeira, who studies polling and demographic trends for the Center for American Progress and The Century Foundation, offered a more plausible theory for President Obama's reticence on gay marriage.
"I think it's more likely because of white, working-class voters, who tend to be pretty unenthusiastic on the issue as well," Teixeira told me. "He's already in enough trouble with these voters for them to be hesitant about further annoying them by changing his stance on gay marriage."
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