Obama’s Switch on Same-Sex Marriage Stirs Skepticism

[mpg]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/15/u...y-marriage-support-motivated-by-politics.html

Sixty-seven percent of those surveyed by The New York Times and CBS News since the announcement said they thought that Mr. Obama had made it “mostly for political reasons,” while 24 percent said it was “mostly because he thinks it is right.” Independents were more likely to attribute it to politics, with nearly half of Democrats agreeing.

 

[American]

Obama campaign: New York Times poll is 'biased' | Campaign 2012 | Washington Examiner

Obama should be careful not to piss off the left-leaning NYT.

 

[roguenuke]

Why is this automatically a negative? So he said he supports same sex marriage for political reasons. OK? Isn't that what pretty much all politicians do during campaigning? Anyone naive enough to not know that politicians will say stuff to get votes are probably not very up on politics to begin with.

 

[Ikari]

I think he obviously made the comment for political reasons. Not sure there is a debate there. Also pretty sure he's not going to do anything about it; but time will tell on that one.

 

[Kreton]

Why is this automatically a negative? So he said he supports same sex marriage for political reasons. OK? Isn't that what pretty much all politicians do during campaigning? Anyone naive enough to not know that politicians will say stuff to get votes are probably not very up on politics to begin with.

Spot on. Politicians say and do anything they can to get votes. It is not a matter of what they believe it is a matter of how it effects the election. Obama is no exception. Dont be fooled into thinking Romney or any other politician is either.

 

[TheNextEra]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/15/u...y-marriage-support-motivated-by-politics.html

Sixty-seven percent of those surveyed by The New York Times and CBS News since the announcement said they thought that Mr. Obama had made it “mostly for political reasons,” while 24 percent said it was “mostly because he thinks it is right.” Independents were more likely to attribute it to politics, with nearly half of Democrats agreeing.

I think his announcement was definitely more for political reasons though given this is an election year.

 

[roguenuke]

Spot on. Politicians say and do anything they can to get votes. It is not a matter of what they believe it is a matter of how it effects the election. Obama is no exception. Dont be fooled into thinking Romney or any other politician is either.

I'm not. I have every belief that Obama has been for legal same sex marriage for a while. He has been holding his official positions within safety zones until it looks like a majority is willing to accept them.

And Romney has put out two different positions on this himself. He supports both an FMA and allowing states to decide. An FMA would prevent states from being able to actually decide on this issue. And I completely believe that he watched himself during the GOP primaries to try not to appear to be obsessed with this issue, as some of the other candidates appeared to be. This allowed him to appear like he was much more moderate on this issue than he now is expressing, since now he wants to try to win back some of those social-issue conservative voters.

 

[TheNextEra]

Why is this automatically a negative? So he said he supports same sex marriage for political reasons. OK? Isn't that what pretty much all politicians do during campaigning? Anyone naive enough to not know that politicians will say stuff to get votes are probably not very up on politics to begin with.

I think the point here that people are making is that Obama was supposed to be different. That's what he campaigned on in 2008. He has since then proven he is just like any other politician.

 

[Wiseone]

Don't care why, he's right.

 

[roguenuke]

I think the point here that people are making is that Obama was supposed to be different. That's what he campaigned on in 2008. He has since then proven he is just like any other politician.

Good thing I didn't vote for him in 2008 then, I guess. I don't feel like I bought into the hype and won't feel at all bad about voting for him this time.

 

[TheNextEra]

Don't care why, he's right.

Yes, he is right.

 

[TheNextEra]

Good thing I didn't vote for him in 2008 then, I guess. I don't feel like I bought into the hype and won't feel at all bad about voting for him this time.

And that's ok, I was just explaining why it is a big deal to some. I voted for Obama in 2008, however, I won't be voting for him this time. Not because I believed the hype, but for his other actions with the bailouts, healthcare, and lack of leadership.

 

[justabubba]

by his comments in support of same sex marriage, Biden pushed him into this change

Obama could either undermine his VP and refuse to go beyond his stated position in support of civil unions, or he could lean a bit farther forward

my advocacy remains for civil unions rather than SSM, but i am very hard pressed to make a logical case in support of my stand
it would not surprise me if Obama also recognized that weakness within his own position

 

[jamesrage]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/15/u...y-marriage-support-motivated-by-politics.html

Sixty-seven percent of those surveyed by The New York Times and CBS News since the announcement said they thought that Mr. Obama had made it “mostly for political reasons,” while 24 percent said it was “mostly because he thinks it is right.” Independents were more likely to attribute it to politics, with nearly half of Democrats agreeing.

I don't really believe he was against gay marriage.That's something liberal democrat usually support,especially those who used to represent a liberal state.That's like a conservative coming out and saying they actually support the 2nd amendment or a fat man saying he likes buffets.

The reason Obama claimed at first to be against gay marriage was because he felt it would help him win the presidency. Now that he thinks the issue has enough support he came out of the closet in support of gay marriage.

 

[mpg]

I don't really believe he was against gay marriage.

If you're talking about his personal feelings, that's probably true, but he was officially opposed to SSM. IOW, he chose politics over principle. Now that he's officially for SSM, it doesn't necessarily mean that he's become more principled. It's far more likely that he's still playing politics with SSM.

 

[Kreton]

Yes, he is right.

He is in my opinion too. But he is largely irrelevant in this. The fact is we aren't close to legalizing it on a national level so the president has no real power.

 

[Hikertrash]

I believe he was personally opposed to SSM the same way a pro-choicer may be opposed to abortion, which means it should be within someones rights but it's not something he would personally do.

 

[roguenuke]

He is in my opinion too. But he is largely irrelevant in this. The fact is we aren't close to legalizing it on a national level so the president has no real power.

The only real power the President has when it comes to this is whether he would approve or veto a bill that repealed DOMA or another bill that had something to do with it. Everything else, on a federal level, is in the hands of Congress or the SCOTUS.

 

[ThePlayDrive]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/15/u...y-marriage-support-motivated-by-politics.html

Sixty-seven percent of those surveyed by The New York Times and CBS News since the announcement said they thought that Mr. Obama had made it “mostly for political reasons,” while 24 percent said it was “mostly because he thinks it is right.” Independents were more likely to attribute it to politics, with nearly half of Democrats agreeing.

Meh. I think he honestly believes that making same-sex marriage legal is a positive thing. I also think that he chose to let the public know about these honest feelings right now was a political move. However, I don't have a problem with that. Consequently, I don't see why so many people are making such a big, cynical deal about it.

 

[TheNextEra]

He is in my opinion too. But he is largely irrelevant in this. The fact is we aren't close to legalizing it on a national level so the president has no real power.

No, but he is the first president to take a stand in favor of it. Symbolic at best I know. There is no real change he can do to this aside from appointing more SCOTUS judges if the time came.

IMO this is going to eventually be decided by the SCOTUS. I don't see it happening any other way.

 

[Erod]

I believe this is playing into his sudden drop in the polls with women.

While many women play along with the frilly, silly antics of the gay community, most absolutely shudder at the thought that their sons might turn out gay. Their support is tepid at best for gay causes, even if they spend time watching Bravo or The View.

 

[Dittohead not!]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/15/u...y-marriage-support-motivated-by-politics.html

Sixty-seven percent of those surveyed by The New York Times and CBS News since the announcement said they thought that Mr. Obama had made it “mostly for political reasons,” while 24 percent said it was “mostly because he thinks it is right.” Independents were more likely to attribute it to politics, with nearly half of Democrats agreeing.

Of course it was for political reasons. For some reason, the idea of SSM has become a right/left issue, with the left generally in support and the right, being all for small government and everything, supporting the idea that the government should be involved in this issue. Since Obama's support comes from the "left", whatever that has come to mean, he can garner votes by saying he's for SSM. Who gives a rip what he thinks on this issue? He can't do anything about it anyway. Gay marriage is a state issue, should be an individual issue, but is not a federal issue.

Everything that comes out of his mouth between now and November is political. The same is true of his opponent.

 

[dabateman]

The President lost my vote. Don't play politics with my life Mr. President, especially when you don't have a pair to get out there an actually do something about it.

 

[roguenuke]

I believe this is playing into his sudden drop in the polls with women.

While many women play along with the frilly, silly antics of the gay community, most absolutely shudder at the thought that their sons might turn out gay. Their support is tepid at best for gay causes, even if they spend time watching Bravo or The View.

Do you have anything to back this up? The polls tend to show that women support same sex marriage more than men do.

For First Time, Majority of Americans Favor Legal Gay Marriage

Even recent polls.

President Obama’s endorsement of gay marriage aligns with young voters and women, poll shows - Politics - The Boston Globe

Do you have anything to back up your belief that this hurt Obama with women?