PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) -
Pundits are weighing in on President Barack Obama's endorsement of gay marriage including Fox 12 political analyst Tim Hibbitts.
Hibbitts said he takes the president at his word - that Obama's position on gay marriage has evolved, but Hibbitts also sees a political component to the announcement.
"Doing this now indicates to me that the president is, frankly, doing this from a position of - to a degree - of political weakness because he feels the need to try to charge up his own base a little bit," said Hibbitts. "I have to be candid. I don't think it's going to help him in some of these key swing states."
These swing states include North Carolina, where voters chose to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. That's a belief shared by the presumptive Republican nominee, Mitt Romney.
"It's a tender and sensitive topic, but I have the same view I've had since I was running for office," said Romney. "My view is marriage itself is a relationship between a man and a woman."
Hibbitts said Obama's endorsement will help with younger voters who have lost some enthusiasm for the president since the last campaign and with Democratic activists, but he said it may not provide the boost he had hoped for.
"It's probably a risk that in my mind is not likely to materially enhance his re-election chances but what I would also say that at the end of the day, I don't think this is going to be the first thing voters are thinking about," Hibbitts said.
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