Could Anti-Gay Politics Sink A Presidential Campaign?

Yesterday Towleroad asked an interesting question, namely whether anti-gay rhetoric - and past actions and statements - could sink one or more of the GOP presidential candidate hopefuls? As noted, when Michele Bachmann appeared on Meet the Press on Sunday, she did all kinds of disingenuous dancing around in an attempt to avoid directly reaffirming her past vitriolic anti-gay statements. It's important that Bachmann and now Rick Perry be pressed constantly on their anti-gay extremism for two reasons: (1) the majority of the public is moving past gay bashing and may be turned off by it, and (2) anti-gay extremism is part and parcel of the Christian dominionism that Bachmann and Perry subscribe to - something the general public must be made to realize regardless of what these extreme candidates may pretend to the contrary. Here are some highlights from Towleroad:

Michele Bachmann did a wonderful job dodging Meet the Press host David Gregory's questions about her homophobic policies this weekend. . . . Bachmann clearly wants to avoid such questions, and the only explanation I can think of is that she's fearful her extreme politics will turn off voters. This got me wondering: could anti-gay politics sink a presidential campaign?

A Gallup Poll found that 53% of Americans support same-sex marriage. The Public Religion Research Institute, CNN, the Washington Post and ABC News have also all found majority support. What's more, most of the nation supported Don't Ask, Don't Tell's repeal and are against DOMA. All of these numbers reflect the fact that LGBT people are becoming more visible, and therefore more accepted, than ever in American history.

With the 2012 race heating up -- and as LGBT activists in states like Oregon and Maine trying to put same-sex marriage on their respective ballots, and as the Proposition 8 trials continue, virtually guaranteeing the issue a national spotlight -- it will be interesting to see if the right starts unearthing and highlighting their archaic, exclusionary politics, or whether they'll try to avoid the issue all together.

And, most importantly, how will the public respond to the possible revival of homophobic politicking on a national level? As voters become more accepting of their gay friends and neighbors, will they be revolted by Bachmann and company's discriminatory ways? Will being seen as intolerant and exclusionary help or hinder presidential candidates?