Black Pastors Campaign Against Obama’s Support of Gay Marriage

President Obama has a wide base of support among African Americans, but a group of conservative black pastors are coming out in opposition to Barack Obama in response to his  endorsement of gay marriage. Reverend Delman Coates, the pastor at Mt. Ennon Baptist Church in Maryland, is not one of them.
The group has started a national campaign aimed at rallying black Americans to re-think their support for Barack Obama. However, the group’s leader does not offer a detailed description about the effort.   
The group’s  leader Rev. William Owens has called the campaign, “An effort to save the family.”  
At a press  conference in July which launched the campaign, Rev. William Owens said, “The time has come for a broad-based assault against the powers that be that want to change our culture to one of men marrying men and women marrying women. I am ashamed  that  the first black president chose this road, a disgraceful road.”  
The reverend  was accompanied by five other black regional pastors and claimed that they were supported by an additional 3,742 black pastors who endorsed the anti-Obama campaign.  
A memo released by  The National  Organization  for Marriage  (NOM) has stated, “The strategic goal of this project is to drive a wedge between gays and blacks – two Democratic constituencies.” This strategy may prove to be effective. A  Pew Research Center  poll that was taken in April found that 49 percent of blacks were against the legalization of same sex marriage, while 39 percent said they supported same sex marriage.
The poll suggests that support for gay marriage by blacks is up from 2008 where the same pole revealed that a mere 26 percent of blacks were in favor of same-sex marriage. Yet whether this will effect how black voters vote has yet to be determined as support among black voters for Barack Obama’s re-election campaign is nearly the same as it was in 2008.