memeorandum: Republicans: Our Position Is Clear, Marriage Is Between One Man And One Woman (Zeke Miller/BuzzFeed)

6:45 PM ET, May 9, 2012

Top Items:

Rick Klein / Yahoo! Good Morning America:

President Obama Affirms His Support for Same Sex Marriage — President Obama today announced that he now supports same-sex marriage, reversing his longstanding opposition amid growing pressure from the Democratic base and even his own vice president. In an interview with ABC News' Robin Roberts …

Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:

Obama Backs Same-Sex Marriage — Updated President Obama declared for the first time on Wednesday that he supports same-sex marriage, putting the moral power of his presidency behind a social issue that continues to divide the country. “At a certain point,” Mr. Obama said in an interview …

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

BREAKING: Obama Embraces Marriage Equality — President Obama has come out in support of marriage equality for gay and lesbian people in an interview with ABC News' Robin Roberts this afternoon: … Watch it: — His endorsement comes less than a week after Vice President Joe Biden embraced …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Washington Post, Politico, Mother Jones, American Prospect, The Huffington Post, Washington Monthly, Campaign 2012, Taylor Marsh, The Maddow Blog, Weekly Standard, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Indecision Forever

E.J. Graff / American Prospect:

I Am Gobsmacked — Well, I guess I'm cynical. I had a list of reasons as long as my arm for President Obama NOT to state that he favors equal marriage. My heart is turning such cartwheels that I am not sure I can write anything cogent. — Here's what I was all ready to say before the announcement:

Discussion: pandagon.net

Log Cabin Republicans:

Obama Announcement Is Cold Comfort to LGBT Americans — (Washington, DC) - Log Cabin Republicans respond to President Barack Obama's latest evolution on the freedom to marry. — “That the president has chosen today, when LGBT Americans are mourning the passage of Amendment One …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, American Prospect, GOProud, Inc., rightwingwatch.org, ThinkProgress, Mediaite, PoliticusUSA and Indecision Forever

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:

President Obama's calculated gamble on gay marriage — President Obama's decision to express support for gay marriage in an interview with ABC's Robin Roberts is a decision that comes with real political risk. — President Obama declares his support for gay marriage in an interview with Robin Roberts of ABC News.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Little Green Footballs, Ezra Klein, Business Insider and JOSHUAPUNDIT

New York Times:

Obama Says Same-Sex Marriage Should Be Legal — WASHINGTON — President Obama on Wednesday ended nearly two years of “evolving” on the issue of same-sex marriage by publicly endorsing it in a television interview, taking a definitive stand on one of the most contentious and politically charged social issues of the day.

Discussion: CNN, FiveThirtyEight, The New Republic, The Caucus, Outside the Beltway, Philly.com and DISSENTING JUSTICE

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

An Obama Gay Marriage Timeline — President Obama may come out in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage today in an interview with the ABC News. It's been a long and winding road there. — Obama in 1996: “I favor legalizing same-sex marriages,and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages.”

Discussion: Hot Air, NationalJournal.com, The PJ Tatler, Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller, Wake up America, Guardian and Instapundit

M.S. / Democracy in America:
Good for Obama, bad for gay marriage

Discussion: The New Republic and The Caucus

Fox News:
Obama backs gay marriage, answering speculation on ‘evolving’ position

Discussion: Little Green Footballs and The Right Scoop

BuzzFeed:
Leaked: White House Talking Points On Gay Marriage Flip

Discussion: Weekly Standard

Washington Free Beacon:
Gay for Pay — President Obama announced his support …

Discussion: Capital New York, Weekly Standard, msnbc.com, Patterico's Pontifications and The Right Sphere

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:
Top social conservative worried the right may lose on gay marriage

Discussion: Reuters

Dan Eggen / Washington Post:
The Influence Industry: Same-sex marriage issue shows importance of gay fundraisers

Discussion: New York Times, OpenSecrets.org, Ezra Klein, PoliticusUSA and Hit & Run

Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:
Prez and the Evolution: President Obama Comes Out For Gay Marriage To Robin Roberts

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Wonkette and Michelle Malkin

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Lugar's Demise and the Constitutional Crisis — The defeat of Richard Lugar in the Indiana Republican Senate primary is the kind of event that would have been shocking just a half-dozen years ago, and has since grown routine. Incumbent senators used to have almost no fear that they might …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Huffington Post, The Right Sphere, ThinkProgress, Liberal Values, Ezra Klein, neo-neocon, Washington Wire, Business Insider, Balloon Juice, American Prospect, Mother Jones, The Daily Caller, ABCNEWS, No More Mister Nice Blog, CNN and Left Coast Rebel

Josh Israel / ThinkProgress:

EXCLUSIVE: Former Sen. Danforth (R) Says GOP Becoming ‘Increasingly Inconsequential,’ ‘Intolerant’ — Former Ambassador to the UN and U.S. Sen. John Danforth (R-MO) — In 2010, former Sen. John Danforth (R-MO) told the New York Times that “If Dick Lugar, having served five terms …

Discussion: Politico, msnbc.com, Hullabaloo and The Gateway Pundit

Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:

Richard Mourdock: ‘Bipartisanship Ought To Consist Of Democrats Coming To The Republican Point Of View’ — Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock (R) crushed Sen. Dick Lugar (R) in yesterday's GOP Senate primary in Indiana, ending the 36-year career of one of the few Republican senators left …

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Maddow Blog

Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:
Man in the News | Richard Mourdock: Richard Mourdock's Many Pursuits Don't Include Bipartisanship

Discussion: Firedoglake, Ezra Klein, Washington Post, Capital New York, DealBook, Politico and ThinkProgress

Washington Post:
Why Dick Lugar lost

Discussion: National Review, ABCNEWS, Outside the Beltway, CNN, Weekly Standard, Swampland and Hotline On Call

Melinda Henneberger / Washington Post:
Dick Lugar, poor loser?

Discussion: Wonkette and Hot Air

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Moderate Republicans Fall Away in the Senate

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Swampland

KDVR.com is the website for KDVR Television …:

Romney in Colorado: “I do not favor civil unions” — DENVER — Mitt Romney, who's now a sure bet to be the Republican Party's presidential nominee this fall, commented about gay marriage and civil unions during an interview with FOX31 Denver's Jeremy Hubbard Wednesday.

Discussion: Ballot Box, ABCNEWS, CNN, Yahoo! News, Business Insider, The Caucus and Advocate

Ashley Parker / The Caucus:
Asked About Gay Marriage, Romney Doesn't Answer

Discussion: CBS News, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, The Hill, Swampland, City Room, Business Insider, New York Times, ACS Blog, Weasel Zippers, The Maddow Blog and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Zeke Miller / BuzzFeed: Republicans: Our Position Is Clear, Marriage Is Between One Man And One Woman

Sarah Huisenga / CBS News:
Romney affirms opposition to same-sex marriage

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Human Rights Campaign, Hit & Run, Harry's Place and ABCNEWS

Justin Sink / The Hill:
RNC chairman: Obama ‘played politics,’ GOP ‘clear’ in opposition to same-sex marriage

Discussion: The Hill, Ballot Box and CNN

Bill Dedman / msnbc.com:

Conservative author Jonah Goldberg drops claim of two Pulitzer nominations — On the dust jacket of his new book, “The Tyranny of Clichés: How Liberals Cheat in the War of Ideas,” best-selling conservative author and commentator Jonah Goldberg is described as having “twice been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.”

Discussion: Mediaite, National Review, FishbowlDC, Taylor Marsh, Crooked Timber, Wonkette, Mad Kane's Political Madness, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Mother Jones, more at Mediagazer »

msnbc.com:

First Thoughts: The margins told the story — Voters arrive at Overbrook Elementary School in Charleston to cast their votes in the primary election, Tuesday, May 8, 2012. … *** The margins told the story: The overall results went largely as expected last night in Indiana, North Carolina …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Moderate Voice, The Heritage Foundation, American Prospect and JustOneMinute

Pam Spaulding / Firedoglake:
North Carolina's Amendment One: Where Do I Begin?

Discussion: Associated Press, The Hill, The Other McCain, southernstudies.org, ThinkProgress, Politico, Shakesville and 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com

John Nolte / BREITBART.COM:
TO EXPLAIN OBAMA'S WV HUMILIATION, DEMS ACCUSE THEIR OWN OF RACISM

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Wake up America, Weasel Zippers and The Gateway Pundit

Naomi Schaefer Riley / Wall Street Journal:

The Academic Mob Rules — Instead of encouraging wide discussion, the Chronicle of Higher Education fires a blogger. — Recently, the Chronicle of Higher Education published a cover story called “Black Studies: ‘Swaggering Into the Future,’” in which the reporter described how …

Discussion: American Power, Rod Dreher, The Lonely Conservative, National Review, Althouse, RedState, TBogg, protein wisdom, Weekly Standard, The Other McCain and ProfessorBainbridge.com

Emily Schultheis / Politico:

Mass. Dems file ethics complaint against Brown (Updated) — The Massachusetts Democratic Party has filed an ethics complaint against Scott Brown, alleging that Brown has used official resources for campaign purposes. — The complaint focuses on footage of Brown's half-court shot …

Discussion: BuzzFeed and The Gateway Pundit

Dan Froomkin / Reuters:

Colin Powell's New Book: War With Iraq Never Debated … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Colin Powell, Dick Cheney, George W Bush, War Wire, Video, Iraq WMD, Scooter Libby, Works For Me, Politics News — WASHINGTON — In his new book, former Secretary of State Colin Powell provides …

Discussion: ThinkProgress

BuzzFeed:

5 Questions For Mitt Romney On Gay Rights — Mitt Romney said today that “domestic partnership benefits, hospital visitation rights, and the like are appropriate but that the others are not.” That leaves a lot of gray area, and there are some questions he'll likely have to answer.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland