In the Nov. 6 race with the most impact on the LGBT community, President Barack Obama won re-election, although Republicans were rumored at midnight to be mulling over contesting numbers in Ohio and perhaps other states.
The apparently heavy turnout of Democrats for Obama seemed to have paid off for LGBT candidates and ballot measures too—with pro-same-sex marriage ballot measures appearing to be passing in Maine, Maryland, and Washington, and the unprecedented defeat of a proposed ban on same-sex marriage in Minnesota. Also, at deadline, it appeared Obama's victory in Wisconsin was propelling Rep. Tammy Baldwin to an historic win as the first openly gay person elected to the U.S. Senate.
The Obama victory is especially sweet for many LGBT people given the Republican ticket's staunch opposition to equal rights for gays in marriage, the military and nearly every other arena.
While Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney did not make same-sex marriage a prominent issue in his campaign, he and vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan made indirect attacks against Obama over his support for marriage equality, in particular.
Ryan, in a conference call sponsored by the National Journal with right-wing activist Ralph Reed's "Faith and Freedom Coalition" Nov. 4, said Obama was taking the country down a path that "compromises those values, those Judeo-Christian values, Western civilization values that made us such a great and exceptional nation in the first place."
A Romney campaign robo-call in Virginia also attacked Obama on religious values. And another robo-call, released last Thursday, warned "President Obama used his health care plan to declare war on religion, forcing religious institutions to go against their faith."
Early returns suggested that heavily gay sections of key states, including Ohio and Florida, may have played a role in Obama's eventual win in the electoral college. At deadline, Obama was leading the popular vote; Romney's campaign eventually conceded victory to the president.
But numerous news organizations called the electoral vote for Obama. Realclearpolitics.com and Fox News put the win at 290 to 203 electoral votes at deadline. The New York Times put it at 285 to 200. CNN was calling it 283 to 203. The Washington Post was saying 271 to 200.
©2012 Keen News Service. All rights reserved.
Also see President Barack Obama's remarks at the link: www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Remarks-by-the-President-on-election-night/40284.html
