Barack Obama supports gay marriage. Log Cabin Republicans release sad attack.

I've been thinking about diving back into my blogging for a couple months now. With today's announcement from President Obama of his support for my marriage, I figured it's the right time.

My lack of fondness for the President is no secret. I feel like he's been the Campaigner in Chief for most of his presidency. And I feel many of the promises he made in 2008 have been thrown out the window for new campaign promises this year. On key policy initiatives -- the Keyston pipeline, Obamacare -- I disagree with him. This isn't to say I'm a Romney fan; We'll simply get to him in another post. 

But today I'm proud of the president. He didn't have to vocalize his support for gay marriage, but he did. It made me very, very happy and somehow more fulfilled. 

As a political calculation, I'm not sure how this will affect his reelection. His campaign is clearly banking on a "divide and conquer" strategy. They are pushing demographic-based initiatives in hopes of distracting voters from the dismal economy. From Travon Martin to "women's health" to "soak the rich" and now gay marriage, they are appealing to the demography that divides us rather than what unites us. The last things they want to talk about are jobs and the economy.

I know I'm now more likely to vote for him today than I was yesterday.

Yet this one has the potential for a net loss in votes. He already had the vast majority of the gay community in his back pocket. He now risks losing some of those middle-of-the-road voters in swing states like North Carolina and Colorado who may not like this one bit. He didn't want to talk about this now, but the media forced his hand. Still, he spoke with eloquence and dignity on the issue. He deserves praise for all of it.

Unfortunately, Log Cabin Republicans (whose efforts I generally support) quickly lashed out at the president:

“That the president has chosen today, when LGBT Americans are mourning the passage of Amendment One, to finally speak up for marriage equality is offensive and callous,” said R. Clarke Cooper, Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director. “Log Cabin Republicans appreciate that President Obama has finally come in line with leaders like Vice President Dick Cheney on this issue, but LGBT Americans are right to be angry that this calculated announcement comes too late to be of any use to the people of North Carolina, or any of the other states that have addressed this issue on his watch. This administration has manipulated LGBT families for political gain as much as anybody, and after his campaign’s ridiculous contortions to deny support for marriage equality this week he does not deserve praise for an announcement that comes a day late and a dollar short.”

Sorry, but Obama doesn't deserve this reaction. Nothing is served by it. In a couple days, next week...sure, let's talk about the cost of his delayed support. But not right now. Not in this moment. The president deserves to bask in his praise right now; He'll get plenty of attacks without those of us in the gay community shooting spitballs at him.

Now we just need Robin Roberts to turn around and make a big announcement of her own. That would be poetic.

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[Good Relationship With Best Spot Town]

If Ohio State Sen. Nina Turner gets her way, men seeking prescriptions for erectile-dysfunction will be required to undergo sexual counseling. Along the same lines, Virginia Sen. Janet Howell proposed linking Viagra prescriptions to digital rectal exams.

[Lawrence Moss]

Andrew Sullivan today: "The contrast with a candidate who wants to abolish all rights for gay couples by amending the federal constitution, and who has donated to organizations that seek to "cure" gays, who bowed to pressure from bigots who demanded the head of a spokesman on foreign policy solely because he was gay: how much starker can it get?"