When President Obama announced his support for marriage equality, we cheered. And then, almost immediately the topic of votes came into play—has the president just caused himself to lose the votes in the conservative states?
Those swing states, which were Ohio, Florida, Indiana, North Carolina, Missouri and Montana in the last presidential election, played a key role in getting Obama elected, with four of the six voting for the democratic candidate. But they’re also notorious for their conservativeness, and one proclamation on a topic that so many are passionate about, whether for or against, can be risky.
Pew released a poll earlier this week that found the majority of Americans (52 percent) say Obama’s statement will not affect their opinion of him, and crucially, among independents, 60 percent say it doesn’t affect their opinion. According to the Washington Post, which investigated in the 15 swing states for this upcoming election, those numbers are almost identical, with 51 percent saying it didn’t affect their opinion, 27 percent say less favorably and 19 percent say more favorably.
America’s growing support for marriage equality will clearly play a key role in this presidential election, and we’re hoping the numbers work in our favor.
Photo: peoples-press.org
