This just in: on Meet the Press this morning, Vice President Joe Biden came out in support of same sex marriage:
GREGORY: You’re comfortable with same-sex marriage now?
BIDEN: Look, I am Vice President of the United States of America. The president sets the policy. I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women and heterosexual men marrying women are entitled to the same exact rights. All the civil rights, all the civil liberties. And quite frankly I don’t see much of a distinction beyond that. [...] I think Will & Grace probably did more to educate the American public than almost anything anybody has done so far. People fear that is different and now they’re beginning to understand.
http://thinkprogress.org/...
(h/t to Scarce for finding the video!)
Joe Biden is the highest official in the Obama administration to endorse same sex marriage, and I think this constitutes a big step "FORWARD" for the Obama administration.
While I doubt we'll see an endorsement for SSM from Obama himself before the election, it seems more and more evident that the administration is definitely evolving on this issue.
Remember, back in 2008, Biden said this:
But when asked if he supports gay marriage during the 2008 Vice Presidential debate Biden was far more circumspect, saying, “No. Barack Obama nor I support redefining from a civil side what constitutes marriage. We do not support that.”