LGBT Support for Obama Rises, Could Tip Election

LGBT voters, who could make the difference in the close presidential race, support President Obama in even greater numbers than they did earlier this year, according to a new poll.

The Harris Interactive poll, conducted for the Logo TV network late last month, found that after the last presidential debate, 72% of likely LGBT voters favored the president, up from 65% in the previous Harris/Logo survey in August. Support for Mitt Romney declined slightly, from 21% to 20%.

“The movement toward Obama is mostly a shift of LGBT voters who were unsure on the initial vote in August (9%) who have now moved to Obama,” the Harris report says. “If Election Day is as narrow as many are predicting, Romney’s inability to turn these unsure LGBT voters to his candidacy could mean the difference between victory and defeat.”

Among the general population, support for Obama slipped somewhat since August, when Harris found 44% favored him and 39% backed Romney. The more recent numbers were 41% for Obama and 43% for Romney.

The increase in LGBT support for Obama was not primarily due to LGBT issues, as respondents already felt positively about his support for these causes, Harris reports. Instead, there was a surge in the number of LGBT voters who believed he would handle economic matters better than Romney and those who felt he “cares about people like me.”

Monday night, celebrities and pundits will discuss the poll results on the Logo special NewNowNext Vote, hosted by Wanda Sykes, with guests including RuPaul, Al Sharpton, Chely Wright, Dean Obeidallah, S.E. Cupp, Judy Gold, and Thomas Roberts. It will air at 10:30 p.m. Eastern.