Obama's gay marriage decision: 60% say it won't change their vote
— -- Six in ten Americans say President Barack Obama's historic shift to embrace same-sex marriage won't affect how they vote in November, according to a new USA Today/Gallup poll. Still, more independents said the move made them "less likely" to vote for him than "more likely," Gallup said, making the decision a "net minus" for the president.
The survey found that 51 percent approve of the president's new position, while 45 percent said they disapproved. Among independents, his move won out by a margin of 53 percent to 44 percent.
Overall, 26 percent of respondents said there were now less likely to vote for Obama, while 13 percent said they were more likely to do so. Among independents, 11 percent said they were more likely to vote for him, 63 percent said it made no difference, and 23 percent said they were less likely to do so.
"Those figures suggest Obama's gay marriage position is likely to cost him more independent and Democratic votes than he would gain in independent and Republican votes, clearly indicating that his new position is more of a net minus than a net plus for him," Gallup said.
"However, those figures also underscore that it is a relatively limited group of voters--about one in three independents and fewer than one in 10 Republicans or Democrats--whose votes may change as a result of Obama's new stance on gay marriage," the organization's Jeffrey M. Jones said in his write-up of the survey.
For questions involving the full sample of voters, the margin of error was plus or minus four percentage points. The error margin is larger for groups within the sample, like independents, but Gallup did not disclose it.
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