folks many are not coming out of it at a mean-spirited perspective. the president s announcement came only a day after a major presidential battleground, north carolina, became the 30th state to constitutionally ban gay marriage. all seven of msnbc s battleground states have passed battle initiatives banning same-sex marriage, one of which was ohio. some argue that the initiative drove up turnout. five states potentially will have it with referendum pending. minnesota is on the referendum. romney stated his opposition to same-sex marriage and there was not a lot of intensity in that opposition yesterday. my view is that marriage itself is a relationship between a man and a woman and that s my
the president sets the policy. i am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marry men, women marrying women, and heterosexual, men and women marrying one another, are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties. and quite frankly, i don t see much of a distinction beyond that. the timing of the president s announcement comes on the heels of an overwhelming defeat for marriage equality in the state of north carolina. last night the state added a same-sex marriage ban to its constitution by a vote of 61 to 39%. north carolina is, count it, 30th state in the nation with legislation to prohibit marriage equality. 11 of those states passed those bans during the 2004 election. mitt romney understands the weight of the moment. he addressed the president s announcement today. my view is that marriage itself is a relationship between a man and a woman, and that s my own preference. i know other people have
a clear stand on the controversial issue of same-sex marriage, yesterday, president obama suddenly decided to come out in favor of it. it s a decision that could prove risky this election year. nbc s tracie potts joins us from washington with more. good morning. reporter: lynn, the president said his views are personal, but no doubt they ll have huge political impact. one day after north carolina became the 30th state to ban gay marriage and after two key members of his administration endorsed it, president obama went on record in an interview with good morning america s robin roberts. i ve just concluded that for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that i think same-sex couples should be able to get married. reporter: he called it a personal decision, for years the president said his views were evolving. there s quick reaction from the gay community. i don t know it took too
his story is the very definition of without a trace. obviously, all of his family is hoping for a safe return but a very bizarre story here. where could he have gone? just kind of disappeared. has not been seen at all since. talk about an inspiration. a woman paralyzed in an accident is now a marathon finisher. now her time which was measured in weeks not hours just simply doesn t matter. she made it across the finish line with plenty of fans there to cheer her on. look at that. if that doesn t inspire, what will. fantastic. it is wednesday morning. that means a few more celebrities have a lot more time on their hands after being ousted from dancing with the stars. they are now down to the final four on the show after last night s dramatic double elimination. a double elimination. i won t say a surprising elimination. no. we called that. but double we did kind of call it. we know what we re talking about. first this morning, a major setback for advocates of same-sex
long. he sat on his patted for too long but murdoch has majority of republicans agree and like. greta: go to gretawire.com and tell us what you think. we know who will run against scott walker. mayor tom barrett, he beat three our other candidates. mayor barrett will challenge governor walker in the recall election. governor walker and several other republicans are facing recall. they came under fire because of collective bargaining rights. it will be a rematch. two years ago mayor barrett lost by 5 percentage points for the governor s job. in north carolina, voters approving a constitutional amendment. it makes north carolina the 30th state to have a ban on gay marriage.