Kudos to President Obama.  I think we all know what his position has been on gay marriage, but many of us thought he would wait until after the election to fully evolve.  He deserves credit for taking a public stand before the election.

Or does he?  According to Pew, in 2001 Americans opposed gay marriage by 57%-35%.  Today they favor it by 47%-43%.

I suggest that Obama’s “new” position will not hurt him in any state he is likely to win, and it will greatly encourage key constituencies.

Still, it would have been easy for Obama to continue the fiction of evolving while quietly signalling to supporters of gay marriage what his position would become after the election.  At least this way voters have a better idea what they are getting when they cast their ballots in November.