Voters "To Spurn Gay Issue" Los Angeles - Thousands of gay couples may be preparing to tie the knot in California this year but the issue of same-sex marriage is unlikely to gatecrash the November presidential election, analysts say. With little separating Republican hopeful John McCain and presumptive Democratic candidate Barack Obama, analysts say the issue will remain a largely uncontested battleground when voters head to the polls. While McCain has said he believes marriage should be restricted to men and women, the Arizona senator opposes any amendment to the US Constitution that would seek an outright ban on same-sex marriage. Analysts say the 71-year-old is unlikely to harden those positions as he attempts to lure moderate voters and Democrats formerly loyal to Hillary Clinton, who lost out to Obama in the race for their party's White House nod. "I will continue to have my position, and that is that marriage is an institution that is - should be unique to a relationship between - marriage between man and woman," McCain told reporters on Monday. Obama meanwhile has also said he believes marriage should be restricted to men and women, but said same-sex couples should enjoy equal rights under the law and is a supporter of civil unions. Joe Solmonese, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights organisation, said he doubted same-sex marriage would stir voters, who would remain pre-occupied with issues such as Iraq and the state of the economy. "I don't see it as being a significant issue at all," Solmonese told AFP. "The issue is in a vastly different place to where it was in 2004. Today voters are preoccupied with the war in Iraq, rising gas prices, and the economy. 'At best, it doesn't move voters...' "These are much more to the forefront and I would expect that any attempt by a presidential candidate to use some sort of divisive social issue, such as same-sex marriage, as a distraction will meet with fierce resistance." Matthew Dowd, a Republican who worked as chief strategist on President George W Bush's 2004 election campaign, said any attempt to force the issue onto the agenda would be fraught with risks. "At best, it doesn't move voters, and at worst for Republicans, it moves them against them," Dowd told the New York Times. "Not so much on the issue but it becomes 'Why are we having a discussion on this issue when we should be talking about things that matter, like the economy, or health care, or the war?'" Anti-same-sex marriage campaigners insist however that the issue will be on the agenda in states such as California, where the electorate is due to vote on an amendment to the state's constitution that would outlaw gay weddings. "It's going to be a major issue in California, because the voters are going to have the chance to overturn the state supreme court," said Brian Brown, executive director of the National Organisation for Marriage. "There's no doubt that it's going to be a part of the presidential election in certain states, but how that plays out partisan-wise is another question. It may not influence who people vote for as president." Brown noted African-American and Hispanic voters were largely against same-sex marriage, a fact that could cost Obama votes. However, David Cruz, a professor at the University of Southern California and an expert in constitutional law, said Obama's popularity among younger voters could have implications for the California amendment vote. "If there is a high turnout of young voters in November, that is likely to favour supporters of same-sex marriage," Cruz told AFP. "Polls have consistently shown that younger voters are not opposed to it."
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