A hail of pronouncements follow Pres. Obama's calm, reasoned announcement that he favored marriage equality. Many of those balls of punditry are speculative. One style (like Rep. Barney Frank) holds that Obama and Dem pro or anti sentiments are already fixed, so the announcement will have little impact come November. Another (click below for Newark Mayor Cory Booker) thinks this overt LGBT support will mobilize anti-gay voters yet again and hurt in the general.
I'm a lot more shortsighted. Come the party convention in four months, yesterday's proclamation of equality will have a huge effect. Any doubt that the Dem platform would support marriage equality disappeared. As a counterpoint to the out-of-touch-with-America social extremes of the GOP, Democrats will be the party of fairness, civil rights, and humanity.
There's where I dovetail with Frank's view. As this shakes out, as the Dems stand up for equal protection as so embedded in the Constitution, the liberal, the moderate, the young, and other voter groups are sure to be inspired to stagger to the polls.
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