Gay Marriage Shows Obama Dilemma in Battleground States
Even as opinion polls show growing approval of same-sex marriage nationally, opposition remains strong in some battleground states, as North Carolina voted to ban gay marriage and Colorado Republicans killed a measure to approve such civil unions.
Such divisions also reflect the split in Washington, where President Barack Obama has been reluctant to echo endorsements of gay marriage by Vice President Joe Biden and Education Secretary Arne Duncan.
“I don’t think it could cost him the election, but I think they’re scared it might, and they don’t want to take the chance,” said Jim Williams, issue polling specialist for Public Policy Polling, a Raleigh, North Carolina-based Democratic research firm. “Politicians are cautious people. Public opinion on gay marriage is shifting very quickly.”
As North Carolina yesterday passed a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a contract between a man and a woman, a Colorado legislative committee approved a bill allowing homosexuals to enter into civil unions. Republicans in the Colorado House later killed the measure by delaying the vote past a midnight deadline.
MORE...
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-09/gay-marriage-shows-obama-dilemma-in-battleground-states.html
