The Livingston Daily:

"...Gay-rights advocates have urged the president — who has previously said his views on the matter are "evolving" — to embrace gay marriage before the election. But Brian Brown, president of the conservative National Organization for Marriage, suggested that a debate on gay marriage could benefit Romney in several swing states that have gay-marriage bans on the books, including Ohio, Florida, Virginia and Nevada.

"Joe Biden just made gay marriage a major issue," he said."

Neil Munro at the Daily Caller:

President Barack Obama is staying in the gay marriage closet because he doesn’t want to alienate black voters or gay donors.

He’s refusing to confirm or deny that he would use a second term to champion new marriage rules that would allow same-sex couples to get marriage licenses.

... Marriage is a tough dilemma for Obama because his base is deeply split: Strong majorities of black Americans oppose changing marriage rules to endorse same-sex couples. Like many other social conservatives, that community sees marriage as an institution to bind parents together and to their children.

That’s a popular position. Voters in more than 30 states — including liberal California — have used state-wide votes to solidify state support for the traditional view of marriage.

But many gays want to see White House endorsement of same-sex marriage because it would provide additional social validation of their relationships.

Wealthy gay donors are increasingly vital to Obama because Wall Street’s donors have closed their wallets to his campaign. In 2008, Wall Street was one of Obama’s primary sources of campaign funds.