Rick Scott: Gay Marriage Could Hurt Obama in Florida

Gov. Rick Scott called President Barack Obamas newest opinion on gay marriage a non-issue in Florida.

However, Scott -- appearing onCNBCs"The Kudlow Report" Thursday night -- added that the presidents re-election effort could suffer as the views of Floridians on the issue were made well-known four years ago at the ballot box.

It has already been decided," Scott said. "In 2008, over 60 percent of our voters passed a constitutional amendment saying there is not going to be same sex marriage in Florida, so its a non-issue here. It will hurt the president here in Florida, his position.

Same-sex marriage has been illegal in Florida since 1997, but supporters pumped millions into a ballot drive in 2008, arguing that the constitutional amendment was needed to make sure judges could never overturn the law.

As expected, U.S. Reps. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, have backed Obama for announcing on national TV on Wednesday that he had changed his view on gay marriage.

Folks, this is what Democrats are all about -- and I'm so proud we have a president who's willing to stand up and say it, Wasserman Schultz wrote in a Democratic National Committee release.

It is high time that gay and lesbian Americans are afforded the same rights, benefits, and protections of marriage as heterosexual couples, Hastings stated in his own release.

President Obama took an important step toward achieving true marriage equality on Feb. 23, 2011, when he and Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Department of Justice (DOJ) would no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in court. DOMA allows states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states as well as federally defines marriage as between one man and one woman. President Obama and Attorney General Holder determined that a crucial provision of DOMA violated the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment.