Gay Marriage and the Democratic Base

May 11, 2012

Gay Marriage and the Democratic Base

Nate Silver says President Obama's decision to back gay marriage was probably driven by the fact that a majority of Democratic voter support gay marriage.

"The point is simply this: it's very unusual for someone who is the leader of his party -- and Mr. Obama is the leader of the Democratic Party as well as being the president -- to hold a position on a major issue in opposition to the clear majority of the voters within that party. In elections since World War II, instead, a party's presidential nominee has generally been someone who is close to the median of his party's voters."

His point is emphasized, as Andrew Sullivan points out, by the fact that the Democratic leadership in the House and Senate also came out in support of marriage equality.

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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May 11, 2012