Polling shows the country moving with deliberate speed on the issue. According to the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, 54 percent of moderates and 52 percent of independents now favor gay marriage. That's an uptick from 38 percent and 44 percent, respectively, in 2006.

The issue still clearly cuts along partisan lines, but with 62 percent of all Democrats in favor of gay marriage, party leaders and elected officials who once opposed gay marriage will likely seek to align themselves with the majority of the party they seek to lead.

It is no surprise that the three aforementioned Democrats who recently switched their positions on the issue hail from the Northeast. According to the ABC News/Washington Post poll, support for gay marriage peaks in the East at 59 percent and gets its lowest level of regional support in the South, where only 42 percent of voters approve of same-sex marriage.