memeorandum: The President Speaks Out (Finally) on Marriage (Andrew Rosenthal/Taking Note)

8:00 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 …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, msnbc.com, Weekly Standard, Gay Politics, ABCNEWS, American Prospect, Washington Wire, Politicker, Mother Jones, Firedoglake, Crooks and Liars, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Truthdig, Weasel Zippers, Viewpoint with Eliot Spitzer, PoliticusUSA, New Yorker, The Other McCain, CNN, Eclectablog, Yahoo! News, Campaign 2012, DISSENTING JUSTICE, americanthinker.com, Washington Post, Freedom to Marry Blog, Business Insider, Newsy, Outside the Beltway, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, TVNewser, Guardian, The Gateway Pundit, TIME Ideas, Midwest Voices, The Charlotte Observer, White House.gov Blog, The BRAD BLOG, New York Magazine, Mother Jones, Towleroad News #gay, Rod Dreher, Prop 8 Trial Tracker, Capital New York, Gay Politics, Alas, a Blog, Blue Mass Group, ACS Blog, Poynter, Stinque, RedState, Instapundit, Lawyers, Guns & Money and The Awl, more at Mediagazer »

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, Mother Jones, Washington Post, Politico, American Prospect, The Maddow Blog, The Huffington Post, Poliglot, Campaign 2012, Washington Monthly, Taylor Marsh, Towleroad News #gay, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Indecision Forever

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: GOProud, Inc., rightwingwatch.org, ABCNEWS, ThinkProgress, Mediaite, PoliticusUSA 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

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: The Huffington Post, Gawker, msnbc.com, Los Angeles Times, Business Insider, Ezra Klein and JOSHUAPUNDIT

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:

Top social conservative worried the right may lose on gay marriage — Conservative religious leaders predicted President Obama's support of gay marriage will hurt him this election — but one fretted that the tide has turned against them long-term on the issue, and that Obama's statement could further erode their position long-term.

Discussion: Reuters

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: Power Line, ABCNEWS, Weasel Zippers, The PJ Tatler, The Daily Caller, Wake up America and Guardian

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, Outside the Beltway, The Caucus, Philly.com and DISSENTING JUSTICE

M.S. / Democracy in America:

Good for Obama, bad for gay marriage — BARACK OBAMA took cubic miles of guff for spending the last few years insisting his position on gay marriage was “evolving”. Now he's finally come out and said what everybody knew he was eventually going to say: he thinks gay people should be allowed to marry the partner of their choice.

Discussion: The New Republic, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Caucus

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

Discussion: Weekly Standard

Elliott Abrams / Weekly Standard:
‘On My Behalf’ — The debate over same sex “marriage” …

Discussion: Betsy's Page

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

Discussion: New York Times, OpenSecrets.org, Ezra Klein, Weasel Zippers, Hit & Run, Patterico's Pontifications and PoliticusUSA

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Breaking: Noted gay-marriage supporter finally drops cynical charade

Discussion: The Hill, Mediaite, NationalJournal.com, American Prospect, The Daily Caller, Weekly Standard and Michelle Malkin

Andrew Rosenthal / Taking Note:
The President Speaks Out (Finally) on Marriage

Discussion: Vox Popoli

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:
Evolve: Obama gay marriage quotes

Discussion: ABCNEWS, CNN and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

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’

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

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Lugar's Demise and the Constitutional Crisis

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

James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:
Sore Lugar — For a “statesman,” he's sure acting childish.

Discussion: The Other McCain, American Spectator and FreakOutNation

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

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

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

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Swampland

Washington Post:
Why Dick Lugar lost

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

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

Discussion: Wonkette and Hot Air

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

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

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

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

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Shep Smith: ‘Wrong side of history’ — Fox News anchor Shep Smith made his own news today when he said President Obama was “now in the 21st century” after announcing his support for same-sex marriage. Minutes later, in a conversation with colleague Bret Baier, he added:

Discussion: BuzzFeed

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: Gawker, American Power, National Review, Rod Dreher, TBogg, The Lonely Conservative, The Daily Dish, Weekly Standard, RedState, Althouse, protein wisdom and The Other McCain, more at Mediagazer »

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