MINNEAPOLIS — The political impact of President Barack Obama’s support for same-sex marriage will be tested this fall in Minnesota, where opponents of a proposed same-sex marriage ban hope the president’s popularity will help persuade Democrats to vote it down.
Obama’s trip to Minneapolis today comes three weeks after he announced full support for the right of same-sex couples to wed. It’s his first trip since then to a state that will vote on a same-sex marriage ban in November. Minnesota’s version would etch the ban into the state constitution.
Obama won 54 percent of the vote in the state in 2008 and is expected to win it again this year, so opponents of the ban hope enough Minnesotans follow the president’s self-described evolution on same-sex marriage so they can defeat it.
“We can all make fun of the president for saying he’s evolving, but that’s exactly what’s happening in Minnesota too,” said Richard Carlbom, campaign manager for Minnesotans United for All Families.
