Should Obama be concerned about the growing number of Republicans that are to the left of him on gay marriage and similar issues? Perhaps, writes Sam Stein in the HuffPost:
…a prominent Democratic consultant got in touch with the Huffington Post to make the case that the Obama administration risks losing the gay rights community (or at least depressing their votes) with its tepid embrace of their priorities.
"I think they have been put in a tough place by these conservatives and they should be," the consultant said. "There are a whole group of people who are to the left of them on gay rights. And they are Republicans. It should make them feel uncomfortable."
LBGT voters are not, of course, monolithic. And on a host of other fronts, they are repulsed by the GOP's policies. Talk about abandoning Obama and the Democrats, in some respects, has been driven more by a desire to scare the party into action than sincere intent to vote Republican.
But that doesn't mean it's impossible for an electoral shift to take place or that there aren't those in the GOP who welcome siphoning off the LBGT vote.
Adds Steve Emeldorf, an aide to former House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, who is fundraising with Mehlman in support of same-sex marriage:
"There has always been this libertarian segment of the Republican Party who thinks the government ought to get out of your life, and that group has, for various reasons, become more emboldened. Maybe ten years ago they were scared of this issue, but as it becomes more acceptable the libertarians are like, yeah, this is our philosophy. You had the most conservative vice president in the history of the world [Dick Cheney] with a lesbian daughter who over the last couple years has signaled he is for gay rights and marriage," Elmendorf added. "And if you have this guy who is the icon of the right wing there… It sort of snowballs."
