Obama campaign highlights Romney’s opposition to gay marriage

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s campaign is using his support of gay marriage to draw a contrast with Republican rival Mitt Romney.

The morning after Obama publicly embraced same-sex marriage, his campaign released a web video titled “Mitt Romney: Backwards on Equality.”

The video opens with Obama saying same-sex couples should be allowed to get married, followed by a clip of Romney saying Wednesday that he opposes gay marriage and favors rolling back some rights for same-sex couples.

The video also tries to portray Romney as out of touch with the majority of Americans, saying even former Republican President George W. Bush supported civil unions.

Obama aides hope Obama’s support of gay marriage will energize Democrats, though they acknowledge the divisive social issue could hurt the president with socially conservative independent voters.