Regarding my earlier prediction, this just came down:
In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, President Barack Obama declared that “same sex marriage should be legal.”
Adding... For the record, I was actually wrong on several things. I predicted this would happen in his second term. I also noted that the vote in North Carolina and its swing-state status would make it politically difficult for the president to make a move like this. This is why I hate making predictions.
Here's what the president said:
"I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don't Ask Don't Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married,"
I've always believed his personal view was more or less beside the point. It's about what, specifically, the president can do about state-level laws.