Of Course It Was a Diversionary Tactic

I am referring to Obama's sudden "evolving" stance on gay marriage. Not only could he pander to the identity politics crowd, which was getting impatient with him, but he could also take their attention away from the shitty economy and his equally shitty economic policies.

The WSWS noted that the minute Obama made his dramatic announcement, piles upon piles of political contributions went into his coffers.

Gay marriage just isn't that important an issue:

Issues such as gay marriage serve a definite and important function in American politics. For most of the population, regardless of sexual orientation, they are of decidedly secondary importance. According to a recent PEW poll, gay marriage ranked 18th in the list of important issues, coming far behind the economy, jobs, health care and war.

The pro-Democratic Party organizations seek to promote issues of identity and lifestyle as a means of obscuring the basic class issues and diverting attention from the thoroughly reactionary policies of the Obama administration on every front. In doing so, they seek to exploit the general support for equality and the expansion of marriage rights, particularly among young people. The Democratic Party uses such issues in the attempt to establish points of difference with the Republicans, under conditions in which the two parties agree on all fundamental issues.

Identity politics is always a killer when it comes to winning the White House. Bread-and-butter issues are what matter.

Speaking of Obama, he is campaigning in Reno today. Unfortunately, the paper is now under a paywall.

There are, however, Twitter feeds.