Obama's Flip Flop on Gay Marriage: What's Really Going On

It wasn't supposed to go down this way.

It was too early, way too early. The White House, basking in the approbation of liberal elites everywhere, is pretending that this is a great moment for them, politically. Behind closed doors, though, I think David Axelrod is ripping Joe Biden a new one.

So, here's what's going on. Gay marriage is about a 50/50 issue, so in terms of political positioning, this doesn't do much for Obama. In fact, the opposite may be true. Evangelicals, who are not Romney's biggest fans, have now been handed a big fat reason to show up at the polls, and maybe even open their wallets. Obama's people surely know this, but they were willing to take a calculated risk, because the play here was to tilt the national debate towards social issues and away from the economy.

And, it has done that, spectacularly so. The Washington Post, in what was surely a coordinated move, chipped in with an absurd story about an alleged Romney anti-gay incident half a century ago. The two things combined have completely dominated national conversation for the last two days. Unemployment numbers came out yesterday. They were poor. Did you know? Didn't think so.

But, it's MAY. This was supposed to go down in September or October, when gaining control of even two or three news cycles is invaluable. But the logorrheic Biden - gotta love that guy, sometimes - forced Obama's hand early. This card was completely wasted.