Posted on 05/14/2012 11:18:05 AM PDT by Kaslin
Barney Frank told the panel on ABC’s This Week that “I don’t think anyone’s vote was changed” when Barack Obama endorsed the legalization of same-sex marriage — but that might be too optimistic an analysis. The New York Times reports that the White House went on a charm offensive with leaders of faith organizations, including and perhaps especially African-American churches where opposition to gay marriage runs high. So far, the charm offensive has had mixed results:
About two hours after declaring his support for same-sex marriage last week, President Obama gathered eight or so African-American ministers on a conference call to explain himself. He had struggled with the decision, he said, but had come to believe it was the right one.
The ministers, though, were not all as enthusiastic. A vocal few made it clear that the president’s stand on gay marriage might make it difficult for them to support his re-election. …
In the end, Mr. Coates, who supports civil marriages for gay men and lesbians, said that most of the pastors, regardless of their views on this issue, agreed to “work aggressively” on behalf of the president’s campaign. But not everyone. “Gay marriage is contrary to their understanding of Scripture,” Mr. Coates said. “There are people who are really wrestling with this.”
This was the danger of going on the record, a danger Obama’s allies on the Left apparently discounted. Obama drove turnout in 2008 in part through the enthusiastic participation of these very same churches. Having now sided with the people who call these black pastors and congregations “bigots,” especially in North Carolina where two-thirds of black voters supported Amendment One, Obama is not at risk of having them flip to Mitt Romney — but he does risk losing that enthusiasm, fundraising, and organization.
It’s not just about the policy itself, either. The churches now wonder whether Obama will back efforts to force churches to perform same-sex marriages, a topic which one religious leader broached with the President during one of the calls:
“Some of the faith communities are going to be afraid that this is an attack against religious liberty,” Mr. Hunter remembered telling the president.
“Absolutely not,” Mr. Obama insisted. “That’s not where we’re going, and that’s not what I want.”
Really? The Obama administration’s track record on religious freedom singularly argues otherwise. Most recently, the White House stabbed their allies in health-care reform in the Catholic Church in the back by using the ObamaCare law that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops supported to create a mandate that requires church organizations to pay for contraception, sterilization, and abortifacients. Even more to the point, the Obama administration tried to apply the ADA to force a church to rehire a minister they’d terminated, an attempt that got a 9-0 rebuke from the Supreme Court.
The only time this President is solicitous of religious freedom and principles is when he’s trying to cover his own rear end.
On the other hand, Obama’s declaration has resulted in a lot of enthusiasm at churches … for Romney, as Andrew Malcolm explains:
Near the end of the competitive part of the recent Republican presidential primary season, Gov. Mitt Romney began showing growing support among evangelical voters. The Mormon had been losing that influential portion of the GOP base by lopsided proportions. Not anymore.
Thank you, Barack Obama. …
In a major examination of evangelical support for Romney the Deseret News Sunday quoted several Southern academics. Dave Woodard of Clemson University called Obama’s carefully-staged statement a gift for Romney highlighting his candidacy’s uniqueness in supporting traditional marriage.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt he’s sealed the deal,” with most evangelical voters, Woodard told the paper. “I think he can make up for any other problems he has with them with just this one issue.”
Woodard added: “There is beginning to be some genuine enthusiasm for Mitt Romney. They’re not just going to talk about his Sunday morning activities. He has the convictions on the issues they like.”
Newsweek may have crowned Obama with a secular halo this weekend, but he’s not getting hosannas from the churches — and that might be all it takes to send Obama into retirement in January 2013.
It’s irrelevant how the black community feels about gay marriage. They will still vote for Obama no matter what.
He won't have to "back" them, just appoint one more Supreme Court justice who'll give them the 5-4 majority they need to find such a new "right" in the Constitution's penumbras.
Melanin uber alles.
I guess the instant push polling after Obama's interview didn't have as much effect as they had hoped.
ha ha...they said ‘blow’ back!
Nice try Barry! There isn’t a single black in this country who’ll vote GOP, so it doesn’t matter what the hell this marxist faggot does, he’s black, they’re black. End of story! Race riots at 11.
And yet no one in the media (incuding conservative media) is going to point out the fact that it is the party of the KKK (democrat party) that is seeking to redefine civil rights? So I guess the plan of the KKK here is to diminish the power a person’s race or gender has in regards to rights by elevating the power of a person’s sexual behavior. It amazes me that they can pull off such a diabolical plan.
“Your black? Who cares! You just insulted a homosexual and you will be punished!!!”
Stupid move by Obama, the people who are cheering him for this were going to vote for him no matter what, all he’s done is turn off a lot of independents.
White House: You will take it and like it. Now move on.
No, they won’t vote against him. Ethnic solidarity will ensure a high percentage of the black vote. But they don’t have to vote for him, or put in time organizing and getting out the vote.
Less passion will ensure a lower turnout and could make a difference in swing states.
Even if Obama was caught on film having pervert sex with Holder in a threesome involving a mexican donkey, the 98% would still vote for their brudder.
Wait a minute... how can a preacher “support” a president’s re-election when churches are 501c-3 organizations legally prohibited from favoring political candidates, at risk of their tax-exempt status?
is the donkey male or female? I’d hate to think they’d do something immoral!
now how does Obama weasel out of his gay marriage , “It was the cocaine “
That's the bottom line. And just to be sure -- pray for rain.
He can afford to throw them under the bus now. Their congregations will still vote for him in the 90% range. Besides, the gay mafia has more money................
The Holy Bond of Matrimony is between a male and a female...there are reasons for this health wise. Like obesity, aberrant sexual behavior has consequences.
Guess that means I don't exist.
If you can't appreciate the pure beauty of the violin after hearing this, something's wrong with your ears.
Or you can get raw with these strings.
How about this gamechanger from America's Got Talent (which they SHOULD have won).
Either way, the violin is sweet yet lethal.
Do it!
Rain?....Pray for an early blizzard!........
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