President Barack Obama’s
embrace of same-sex marriage was viewed for so long as such a risky
move that operatives in both parties expected it to drop like a bomb,
handing Republicans a powerful wedge issue in an election year.
Instead, it’s landed like a feather.
Top Republican officeholders went out of their way
Thursday to try to shift the conversation back to the economy. The GOP’s
House and Senate campaign committees practically ignored it. And
prominent Republican strategists are warning the party to steer clear of
it.
One notable exception is Ed Gillespie, a top adviser to the presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney.
Gillespie predicted on MSNBC that Obama’s support of same-sex marriage
would become a significant campaign issue. And, signaling divisions
within the party, cultural conservatives said Romney would be foolish
not to capitalize on Obama’s announcement. But Romney himself made no
mention of it Thursday during a fundraiser and public event.
