Obama Gay Marriage Support Leads To Fundraising Boost

President Obama’s public endorsement of same-sex marriage has apparently caused people to open their wallets:

It’s too soon to tell whether President Obama’s endorsement of same-sex marriage will help him or hurt him at the polls. But it’s already doing wonders for his pocketbook.

The Obama campaign is enjoying a massive surge of contributions in the wake of his gay marriage announcement, suggesting the issue could serve as a powerful fundraising tool in the months ahead, according to campaign bundlers and donors.

Fundraisers say the donations began pouring in within minutes of the news Wednesday that Obama, who had been “evolving on the issue” for months, would affirm his support for the right of gay couples to be married.

Obama also sent out a message to backers Wednesday night restating his shift on same-sex marriage and requesting financial support. “If you can, please donate today,” the message read.

Campaign officials declined to say how much money has come in over the past 24 hours, but one source involved in the effort called the response “astounding.” The BuzzFeed Web site quoted an unnamed Democrat saying that the campaign had raised $1 million in the first 90 minutes after Obama’s announcement, but a campaign spokesman said that number was wrong.

Regardless of the specifics, it’s clear that Obama’s shift on gay marriage is reaping financial rewards for his reelection campaign. The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community forms an important constituency for Obama, and gay rights issues animate a broad part of the liberal base regardless of sexual identity.

A boost in donations from young and progressive donors could be particularly important for Obama as he struggles to match his performance four years ago, when a hard-fought primary contest and an idealistic wave of supporters helped him shatter all previous fundraising records.

Personally, I’m guessing that we’re going to see that this announcement may have actually helped Obama in the polls too.

FILED UNDER: 2012 Election, US Politics, , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. racehorse says:

    Typical election year ploy: get the attention off of the really important issues, such as the horrible economy and onto something that affects less than 1% of the citizens.

  2. An Interested Party says:

    Typical election year ploy: get the attention off of the really important issues, such as the horrible economy and onto something that affects less than 1% of the citizens.

    Yes, and Republicans and conservatives are falling right into the trap…

  3. al-Ameda says:

    Conservatives are obsessed with the gay marriage issue (for the moment), and all the while they’re saying that Obama is trying to distract people from his record on the economy. They’re distracted and they’re complaining about it – you just can’t make it up anymore.

    I was listening to Sean Hannity today, and he’s convinced that Black Voters will begin to leave Obama over this issue. There is no end to the FoxPravda spin.

  4. michael reynolds says:

    @racehorse:
    Where do you get the 1% Care to offer some justification for that number?

  5. @racehorse:

    You don’t have to be gay to support same-sex marriage

  6. racehorse says:

    @An Interested Party: Certainly agree with that.
    It doesn’t matter to me one way or the other about the gay marriage issue.

  7. al-Ameda says:

    @racehorse:

    Typical election year ploy: get the attention off of the really important issues, such as the horrible economy and onto something that affects less than 1% of the citizens.

    Are you saying that only 1% of the people care about equal protection under the law, as provided for in The Constitution?

  8. Gromitt Gunn says:

    Even if you think that only 1% of the population wants to marry someone of the same gender, that effects more than 1% of the population. That couple’s friends and family – children especially, i any – and community all have a vested interest in their stability and longevity.

  9. anjin-san says:

    @ racehorse

    A friend’s longtime partner recently passed away – they were never able to marry. There were about 200 people at the service. I am fairly certain this issue affected us all.

    Please own your small-mindedness and don’t try to attribute it to me or others.