Jeff Smith: Obama Should Endorse Gay Marriage Now

In his piece published yesterday in Politico’s Arena, Jeff Smith joins the RP in urging the President to endorse gay marriage now. Here is Jeff’s response to the Arena question: “Is Obama being pushed into gay marriage support?”

I don’t know what he’ll do. I do know that it’s better to lead than to follow. I also know that future public opinion on this issue is easier to predict than that on any other major policy issue.

That’s because of the stark generational split: polls consistently show overwhelming majorities of people under 40 supporting gay marriage, and overwhelming majorities of those over 65 opposing it – just as polls during the mid-1960s showed on interracial marriage (before the Supreme Court banned state anti-miscegenation laws in Loving v. Virginia).

As generational replacement occurs, clear majorities of the electorate will support gay marriage, and it will require little courage to support it. Now is the time for the president to ensure that he is on the right side of history.