As I noted on AMERICAblog Gay, the President's wishy washiness on marriage equality poses a problem for his get out the vote effort this fall.
The President obviously wants us all to get out the vote in November. But there are key constituencies with whom the President has great sway, and who are not terribly good on gay rights issues as compared to other Democrats. Why does that matter? Well, take Maryland. Maryland will likely see an effort on the November ballot to repeal the just-passed marriage equality legislation. Nearly a third of Marylanders are African-American. And black Democrats in Maryland are twice as opposed to same-sex marriage as white Democrats in the state. The Washington Post:
The new poll found a sharp divide among Maryland Democrats based on race. Among whites, 71 percent support same-sex marriage, while 24 percent do not. Among blacks, 41 percent are supportive, while 53 percent are opposed. Maryland has the largest percentage of African Americans of any state outside of the Deep South.The President needs to "evolve" now and come out (again) in support of marriage equality, at the same time the Democratic party helps us defeat these initiatives in the various states (MD, NC, ME, MN). Otherwise the two efforts, to get out the vote for Barack Obama and Democrats generally, and to support the civil rights agenda, may be at odds in some key states, and that's not good news for anyone.
