But, analysts say, Mr Obama’s comments about gay marriage last week could reflect a rare event in Washington: a politician saying something because he genuinely believes it. “I don’t think this is a case of sitting down and trying to map out the politics of it,” says Norman Ornstein, a seasoned political analyst at the American Enterprise Institute think-tank. “I think this is his genuine feeling. For whatever reason, he has not yet come to the conclusion that this is something he can support.”
At a Gay Pride reception at the White House on Wednesday, just five days after New York became the seventh jurisdiction in the US to allow same-sex weddings, Mr Obama trumpeted his achievements: winning the repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy that bans gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military, and ordering the justice department to stop defending the law that bans federal recognition of...