Originally Posted by
tommy
As a general matter, it could be the realization that among white voters, support for gay marriage already exceeds the President's own support levels.
In NC, I wouldn't think it would be a matter of energizing his base. A major component of his NC base is black voters, who as a whole are strongly anti-gay marriage.
Perhaps his taking this position is an attempt to place Romney on the horns of a dilemma: if he reacts very strongly, in harsh terms, against Obama's position, he risks alienating white suburban and college educated voters, who will be critical in important states like Pennsylvania and Virginia and a few others. On the other hand, if he does not condemn Obama and gay marriage in strong terms, social conservatives, who he needs to come out and come out in big numbers for him to have any chance at all, have yet another reason to not believe in him as a "true conservative," and sit it out.