Thank the Voters of North Carolina
If the hate amendment passed then there would be a big and divisive base demand to move the convention from North Carolina, which would have been a political disaster. That movement would have had legs once it got rolling.
The amendment was likely to pass, so the groundwork was laid in advance. But maybe it would miraculously fail.
But it did not fail. It passed. And the same-sex marriage announcement is then made in time to head off a huge fight over the convention.
(Which is ironic since the amendment is still passed in NC and the convention is still in NC, but Obama has bought a lot of leverage to say, "I gave you the big one. Please cooperate with me on the rest." And correctly so.)
That's my theory of events.
And I do think Obama was smart and courageous here... and pragmatic.
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