Obama Courts Gay Support in 2012

President Barack Obama's reelection campaign will look vastly different from his landmark 2008 campaign toward the presidency, and one big change will be the uptick in engagement with LGBT voters.

As other more affluent groups have fallen in support for the president, the campaign staff are looking to bring on more gay people in key fundraising roles. According to Politico, there was only one openly gay person on Obama's finance committee during the 2008 election. For 2012, there are 15 so far.

In addition to Obama campaign veteran and Democratic National Committee treasurer Andrew Tobias, campaign finance director Rufus Gifford is openly gay, and was a top fundraiser in California. His partner, Jeremy Bernard, is the White House Social Secretary, which Politico describes as an unofficial fundraising position.

After the pending repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," the announcement that the administration will stop defending the federal gay marriage ban in court, an anti-bullying conference, and the passage of the hate crimes act to expand prevention and enforcement, the White House is hoping that gays and lesbians will be willing to be at the forefront of the Obama reelection campaign.

Read the rest of the story at Politico.