Roll Call's David Hawkings pours cold water on the notion that gay marriage is a political no-brainer -- the reality is gay marriage is very politically risky (because the American people support marriage) and smart politicians sense that:

"...[Sen.] Portman’s open wavering [on ENDA] suggests that, one year after President Barack Obama announced his own election-year conversion to supporting gay marriage, the political momentum is neither as intense nor as one-directional as it might appear. Of the 166 sponsors of ENDA in the House, for example, only three are Republicans: Florida’s Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Pennsylvania’s Charlie Dent and New York’s Richard Hanna."