Brian Brown, the president of the
National Organization for Marriage (NOM), believes President Barack
Obama's gay marriage endorsement will cost him votes.
NOM, the nation's most vociferous
opponent of gay marriage, has already denounced the president's
position, but in new interviews the group is predicting it will help
Republican nominee Mitt Romney's bid for the White House.
“I believe that this will lead to
President Obama being a one-term president,” Brown said in a
conference call, according to US
News & World Report. “If you look at key swing states
– Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Iowa – those are all states
where you had overwhelming majorities vote to protect marriage, and I
think that we are going to focus on making very clear that this is a
key distinction obviously.”
Brown went on to describe Obama's
“evolution” from supporting civil unions to marriage for gay
couples as an “unmasking.”
“Given that President Obama has been
working to undermine [gay marriage ban the Defense of Marriage Act],
had come out against all of the amendments that would protect
marriage, I don't really see this so much as an evolution as an
unmasking of what he already believed given his actions,” he said.
In an interview with Fox News, Brown
added: “This is a massive mistake on the part of President Obama.
And I think it's going to backfire. And it's going to make a clear
contrast between President Obama and Governor Romney.”
However, a
candidate's position on gay marriage ranked dead last in a recent
poll of voters' priorities.