Week 12

Gay Vote Proved a Boon for Obama

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/16/us/politics/gay-vote-seen-as-crucial-in-obamas-victory.html?hp

Article from NYTimes

Summary:

Gay vote is seen as crucial in Obama's victory. While President Obama’s lopsided support among Latino and other minority voters has been a focus of postelection analysis, the overwhelming support he received from another growing demographic group who is Americans who identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual, has received much less attention.

Gay voters are another demographic group along with other groups such as African Americans, Latinos, Asian-Americans, and Jews in which Democrats have been winning big victories over Republicans. As exit polls showed, Mitt Romney and Mr. Obama won roughly an equal number of votes among straight voters nationwide.

Mr. Obama’s more than three-to-one edge in exit polls among the 5 percent of voters who identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual was more than enough to give him the ultimate advantage.
As with Latinos and Asian-Americans, the number of voters who identify as gay appears to be growing.

Opinion:

In the younger population, there is a much wider range in the geography and ethnicity of those who are identifying as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. They will be growing to a large, influential demographic group.

As Republicans plan to reach out to Hispanic and Asian-American voters, another question is whether they would also help themselves by improving their standing among gay voters. Republicans should try to do so, in part to win over some moderate straight voters. However, if Republican candidates move to the center on gay rights, they might also risk losing support among cultural conservatives.