Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) told the Chugiak-Eagle River Star that her views on gay marriage are “evolving” and that she’s reviewing her stance on the issue “very closely.”

Said Murkowski: “I think it’s important to acknowledge that there is a change afoot in this country in terms of how marriage is viewed.”

She added: “The term ‘evolving view’ has been perhaps overused, but I think it is an appropriate term for me to use.”

Rick Stengel: “Whatever the Supreme Court decides, it seems clear that the majority of Americans feel marriage is a civil right and that denying that right to people because of their sexual orientation is a violation of equal protection under the law…. We had a long debate in our offices about this week’s cover images of two same-sex couples. Some thought they were sensationalist and too in-your-face. Others felt the images were beautiful and symbolized the love that is at the heart of the idea of marriage. I agree with the latter, and I hope you do too.”

The Week: Why even red state Democrats are jumping on the gay marriage bandwagon.

The Week: “Most members of the Republican Party hope that the Supreme Court will not use the two gay-marriage cases it heard this week to issue a broad ruling affirming the constitutional right of gays and lesbians to marry. However, top officials in the GOP are reportedly praying for precisely that outcome, calculating that it would be the most effective way to remove gay marriage as a political liability.”

Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC), who is up for re-election in 2014, became the latest Democrat to announce her support for gay marriage in an interview with the Raleigh News & Observer.

Roll Call: “With Hagan’s reversal, there are now only nine Democratic senators who have not expressed support for gay marriage rights.”

SCOTUSblog: “If the Supreme Court can find its way through a dense procedural
thicket, and confront the constitutionality of the federal law that
defined marriage as limited to a man and a woman, that law may be gone,
after a seventeen-year existence.  That was the overriding impression
after just under two hours of argument Wednesday on the fate of the
Defense of Marriage Act.”

Roll Call: 14 most telling moments from today’s hearing.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) reiterated his stance against same-sex unions, the Dallas Morning News reports.

Said Perry: “In Texas, it is fairly clear about where this state stands on that issue. As recently as a constitutional amendment that passed – I believe, with 76% of the vote. The people of the state of Texas, myself included, believe marriage is between one man and one woman.”

David Freedlander notes that potential Democratic 2016 contenders may be shifting on same-sex marriage at breathtaking speed — Sen. Mark Warner, Sen. Tim Kaine, and Gov. Brian Schweitzer this week alone — but he’s found a few last opponents.

Marc Ambinder: How gay rights tipped so quickly.

The Supreme Court “returns to the subject of same-sex marriage for a second day on Wednesday, when the justices hear arguments about the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act of 1996,” the New York Times reports.

“The 1996 law defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman for purposes of more than 1,000 federal laws and programs, and it thus excludes married same-sex couples from benefits to which their opposite-sex counterparts are entitled.”

Washington Post: “The Obama administration has said that it will not defend the law, known as DOMA, and lower courts have said it is unconstitutional to deny federal benefits to same-sex couples who are legally married in the states where they live while offering the same benefits to opposite-sex married couples.”

Wonk Wire has an overview of the case.

Dan Balz: “If justices on the Supreme Court sounded cautious and tentative as they addressed the issue of same-sex marriage Tuesday, it’s little wonder. Like everyone else in public life, they are operating in the middle of a political whirlwind.”

“The political and legal systems are caught between past and future. Public opinion has shifted rapidly, and a majority of Americans now back legalizing same-sex marriage. Among those younger than 40, support is overwhelming. The question is when and in what form the future arrives.”

Roll Call: The 12 best moments at the Supreme Court today.

“As the Supreme Court on Tuesday weighed the very meaning of marriage, several justices seemed to have developed a case of buyer’s remorse about the case before them,” the New York Times reports. “Some wondered aloud if the court had moved too fast to address whether gay and lesbian couples have a constitutional right to marry.”

The Washington Post notes the justices “wondered openly about whether it was time for the court to render a judgment.”

Tom Goldstein sees two possible scenarios with the upshot being “a modest step forward for gay rights advocates, but not a dramatic one. The Court would stay its hand for some time for society to develop its views further. But combined with a potentially significant ruling in the DOMA case being argued tomorrow, the Term will likely nonetheless end up as very significant to gay rights.”

Adam Winkler: Beware of early predictions on what the court will do.

A new CBS News poll finds support for legalizing gay marriage is at 53% to 39%, with 33% of those who support marriage equality saying they once held the opposite view.

Meanwhile, Greg Sargent notes a “sharp generational divide” among Republicans on the issue. Overall, 56% of Republicans oppose legal gay marriage. But among Republicans under 50, a plurality of 49% supports gay marriage, versus only 46% who oppose it.

Nate Silver forecasts that a national referendum to approve same-sex marriage “would have narrowly failed last year, 48% to 52%, despite national polls showing more voters approving same-sex marriage than opposing it. For right now, it is probably best to treat the question of whether a majority of Americans support same-sex marriage as having an ambiguous answer. Polls are on the verge of saying that they do, but the ballot results are more equivocal.”

“By 2016, however, voters in 32 states would be willing to vote in support of same-sex marriage, according to the model. And by 2020, voters in 44 states would do so, assuming that same-sex marriage continues to gain support at roughly its previous rate.”

New York Times: “It was 10 minutes before 1 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21, 1996, and there
were no cameras, no ceremony. The witching-hour timing bespoke both
political calculation and personal angst. With his signature, federal
law now defined marriage as the union of a man and woman. Mr. Clinton
considered it a gay-baiting measure, but was unwilling to risk
re-election by vetoing it.”

“For nearly 17 years since, that middle-of-the-night moment has haunted Mr. Clinton, the source of tension with friends, advisers and gay rights supporters. He tried to explain, defend and justify. He asked for understanding. Then he inched away from it bit by bit. Finally this month, he disavowed the Defense of Marriage Act entirely, urging that the law be overturned by the Supreme Court, which takes up the matter on Wednesday on the second of two days of arguments devoted to same-sex marriage issues.”

“Rarely has a former president declared that an action he took in office violated the Constitution. But Mr. Clinton’s journey from signing the Defense of Marriage Act to repudiating it mirrors larger changes in society as same-sex marriage has gone from a fringe idea to one with a majority.”

“Less than four years ago, some gay-rights activists thought it would be a mistake to wage a Supreme Court battle over gay marriage. This week, the issue comes to the nine justices for nearly three hours of argument, and gay-marriage proponents are confident of at least a partial victory,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“In a twist, the same fast-changing public opinion cited by activists has turned into the basis for one of the principal arguments at the Supreme Court by gay-marriage opponents. They say voters in some states have shown willingness to approve gay marriage, meaning there is no need for the justices to wade into the socially divisive issue. Nine states plus the District of Columbia have approved gay marriage–including three states in November 2012 votes.”

Ryan Teague Beckwith: A look at six Supreme Court precedents on marriage and gay rights.

David Hawkings: “For gays and lesbians, the marriage cases being debated at the Supreme Court this week hold the potential for either a landmark expansion or a painful contraction of their civil rights, some narrower changes, or really nothing meaningful at all. But for members of Congress — Republicans, in particular — their political lives will be shaped profoundly by whether the justices go big, go small or essentially stay home on the issue.”

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) told Time that he supports same-sex marriage.

Said Warner: “I support marriage equality because it is the fair and right thing to do. Like many Virginians and Americans, my views on gay marriage have evolved, and this is the inevitable extension of my efforts to promote equality and opportunity for everyone.”

Warner is up for re-election in 2014.

The Cloakroom: The march towards legalizing gay marriage seems unstoppable, but is it?

Sen. Rob Portman’s (R-OH) son, Will, writes for the Yale Daily News about telling his parents that he was gay.

“In February of freshman year, I decided to write a letter to my
parents. I’d tried to come out to them in person over winter break but
hadn’t been able to. So I found a cubicle in Bass Library one day and
went to work. Once I had something I was satisfied with, I overnighted
it to my parents and awaited a response.”