No Hope, No Change For Gay Marriage?

Did Barack Obama sink gay marriage last night? In one of the more ironic developments of the election, ballot proposals in Arizona and Florida that defined marriage as only being between a man and a woman passed last night. A third, in California, appears to have passed as well though the counting isn't finished yet.

With such a big night for the Democrats, how did this happen? Well it depends on which Democrats vote. An expert in ballot initiatives told me last week that the bans would likely pass if Obama boosted black turnout significantly. Black voters tend to be more conservative on social issues like this -- they love their bibles and Jesus -- but they typically turnout in smaller numbers on Election Day than other ethnic groups. This year they hustled to the polls to elect Obama. Apparently they gave gays the cold shoulder while they did it.

We'll see if the exit poll data bears this theory out.