Maine and New Hampshire are now the states to watch. Both states have Democratic governors who campaigned on a platform saying that marriage is between a man and a woman; both signed equal marriage bills passed by their state legislatures. But Maine, unlike the other equal marriage states in New England, has an easy process for a "people's veto" that could put the issue on the ballot in November. And in New Hampshire, the governor only agreed to sign the bill after religious liberty protections were added for people with faith-based objections to gay people.

If that sounds like a compromise floated by equal marriage supporter Jonathan Rauch and marital traditionalist David Blankenhorn, that's because in essence it is. Rauch and Blankenhorn have said that since a national consensus on this issue is a long way off, the best way forward is maximum benefits for same-sex couples paired with maximum religious-liberty protections for people of faith.