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The argument that coming out for gay marriage in an election year would smack of political opportunism is more interesting. Given Obama’s record so far on gay rights, few gay advocates believe that Obama genuinely opposes gay marriage. The result is that his current stance already seems at least as politically opportunistic as coming out for marriage equality would, if not more so. Indeed, this gets to the heart of what has been the problem all along: Each time Obama does something positive on gay rights, that only reinforces the sense that he does support full equality for gay and lesbian Americans — including marriage equality — and increases impatience among them for him to say so already.Greg nails it. The President's position on marriage is about as politically opportunistic as it gets. The only reason he doesn't come out in favor of marriage equality is because of politics. And sure, everything is politics in politics (meaning, everything in Washington, even seemingly altruistic gestures, have a political component to t hem). But I'm not convinced it's good politics to keep wavering on this issue.
If anything, the fact that either stance risks coming across as political opportunism only serves as a reminder that his position on gay marriage has essentially been untenable ever since he declared that he’s “evolving.”
There is a deep-seated concern in the gay community that politicians just aren't comfortable with us. This kind of political ambivalence does nothing to dispel it.
