Profiles In Etch-A-Sketching

Mitt Romney has immediately fallen into the trap President Obama has laid out for him.

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Wednesday said he unequivocally opposes "marriage between people of the same gender," drawing a contrast to President Obama's "evolving" position on the issue.

Later, in the afternoon, Mr. Obama said in an interview with ABC News that he now supports same-sex marriage.

Romney was asked Wednesday morning about the failure of a ballot measure that would have allowed same-sex civil unions in Colorado. In an interview with Denver-based KDVR-TV, he said, "I indicated my view, which is I do not favor marriage between people of the same gender, and I do not favor civil unions if they are identical to marriage other than by name," Romney said. "My view is the domestic-partnership benefits, hospital visitation rights, and the like are appropriate but that the others are not."

Romney had no choice.  His party would have flayed him and left him out in the sun to rot if he had voiced anything less than permanent second-class citizenship for the LGBT community.   And please note, this is a position "flip-flopping" Mitt is now 100% on the record as being against.

If this is Romney pivoting towards the center, Barack Obama is going to do better than he did in 2008 provided the people who begged him to take this position now follow up with their support.  There's a clear divide now between the parties, and the whole "both sides are the same" argument just died screaming.

So now marriage equality is an issue in the election?  Good.  It needs to be.  And there is no doubt that wingnut Mitt Romney is on the wrong side of history.