Barack Obama Started Flirting with Voters
Published in Izvestia
(Russia) on 10 May 2012
by Konstantin Volkov (link to original)
(Russia) on 10 May 2012
by Konstantin Volkov (link to original)
Translated from
by Olga Kerzhner.
Edited by Janie Boschma.
Obama’s intention to allow same-sex marriage is more like a PR campaign.
U.S. President Barack Obama announced his support for gay marriage. He said, “For me personally it is important.” In recent days, this topic has become very relevant, particularly after North Carolina residents supported the introduction of a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
America has roughly the same number of supporters and opponents of non-traditional families. According to the Gallup public opinion polls, 48 percent of adults across the United States are opposed to this novelty. Obama became the first president who was not afraid to publicly support the idea of same-sex marriages. As the president himself explained, his team has a lot of extraordinary, talented homosexuals, who care about this issue.
But concern for his colleagues most likely was not the only reason for Obama’s statements. For example, American political analysts have pointed out the fact that sexual minorities are usually very politically active, and are also more willing to donate money for election campaigns.
According to research conducted recently by UCLA, there are approximately 1.9 million gays in the U.S. Obama's initiative will obviously attract the votes of these constituents.
However, this is also dangerous, because during the Nov. 6 election, the presidential candidate could alienate the traditionalists (43 percent of the U.S. population is strongly opposed to same-sex marriage). Maybe that's why Obama's Republican rival Mitt Romney did not start harshly criticizing the president’s statements, though typically Romney never misses an opportunity to put every White House initiative in a bad light. Meanwhile, the traditionalists have already started to protest. President of the National Organization for Marriage Brian Brown stated, “God is the author of marriage, and we will not let an activist politician like Barack Obama ... turn marriage into something political that can be redefined according to presidential whim.” Cardinal Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said that he found Obama’s statements “deeply saddening.”
According to the Senior Expert for the Center of Political Conjuncture Maksim Minaev, “Most of the traditionalists vote for the Republican candidate anyway, so the Democrats aren’t losing much. It’s a different matter that, in reality, Obama cannot achieve this legislative proposal without the consent of every state. This is a lengthy process, which will clearly take more time than what’s left before the election. Therefore, the present’s statements can be considered as populism.”
Minaev points out that the U.S. has been working toward this law for a long time. Recall, for instance, the repeal of the famous “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in September 2011. Whereas prior to the repeal, openly homosexual citizens could not serve in the military; they can now do so.
Currently, 49 percent of voters support Obama, while 42 percent support his rival, Romney.
Today, same-sex marriage is officially permitted in 10 countries, seven of which, except for Argentina, Canada and South Africa, are in Western Europe. In the U.S., it’s permitted in Washington, D.C., nine states and two territories under the jurisdiction of Indian tribes. Civil unions of same-sex individuals without official marriage registration are permitted in many countries, primarily in Europe.
U.S. President Barack Obama announced his support for gay marriage. He said, “For me personally it is important.” In recent days, this topic has become very relevant, particularly after North Carolina residents supported the introduction of a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
America has roughly the same number of supporters and opponents of non-traditional families. According to the Gallup public opinion polls, 48 percent of adults across the United States are opposed to this novelty. Obama became the first president who was not afraid to publicly support the idea of same-sex marriages. As the president himself explained, his team has a lot of extraordinary, talented homosexuals, who care about this issue.
But concern for his colleagues most likely was not the only reason for Obama’s statements. For example, American political analysts have pointed out the fact that sexual minorities are usually very politically active, and are also more willing to donate money for election campaigns.
According to research conducted recently by UCLA, there are approximately 1.9 million gays in the U.S. Obama's initiative will obviously attract the votes of these constituents.
However, this is also dangerous, because during the Nov. 6 election, the presidential candidate could alienate the traditionalists (43 percent of the U.S. population is strongly opposed to same-sex marriage). Maybe that's why Obama's Republican rival Mitt Romney did not start harshly criticizing the president’s statements, though typically Romney never misses an opportunity to put every White House initiative in a bad light. Meanwhile, the traditionalists have already started to protest. President of the National Organization for Marriage Brian Brown stated, “God is the author of marriage, and we will not let an activist politician like Barack Obama ... turn marriage into something political that can be redefined according to presidential whim.” Cardinal Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said that he found Obama’s statements “deeply saddening.”
According to the Senior Expert for the Center of Political Conjuncture Maksim Minaev, “Most of the traditionalists vote for the Republican candidate anyway, so the Democrats aren’t losing much. It’s a different matter that, in reality, Obama cannot achieve this legislative proposal without the consent of every state. This is a lengthy process, which will clearly take more time than what’s left before the election. Therefore, the present’s statements can be considered as populism.”
Minaev points out that the U.S. has been working toward this law for a long time. Recall, for instance, the repeal of the famous “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in September 2011. Whereas prior to the repeal, openly homosexual citizens could not serve in the military; they can now do so.
Currently, 49 percent of voters support Obama, while 42 percent support his rival, Romney.
Today, same-sex marriage is officially permitted in 10 countries, seven of which, except for Argentina, Canada and South Africa, are in Western Europe. In the U.S., it’s permitted in Washington, D.C., nine states and two territories under the jurisdiction of Indian tribes. Civil unions of same-sex individuals without official marriage registration are permitted in many countries, primarily in Europe.