Fast Forward: Gay Marriage at the Democratic Convention in North Carolina

Obama recently timed his announcement of support for gay marriage conveniently so that it would have no impact on the vote on gay marriage in North Carolina.  That is, he didn't want to anger North Carolinians and other voters by supporting a measure that is going to lose. (Let's call this the reverse Chicago Olympics strategy and a perfect example of Obama's "courage".)

Now, the left is mad at the state of North Carolina and talking about a boycott.  Nevermind that impactful boycotts are usually hard to organize.  The key is that the left is pissed at North Carolina and will still be pissed when the Democrats hold there convention there in a few months.

So fast forward to every speaker wanting to speak-truth-to-power and chastise host North Carolina from the convention podium in Chartlotte (and, perhaps, with protests outside the convention doors).  They will all want to chance to say, "I'm here but I'm not happy about this land of homophobia."  But will they get a chance?

Odds are that Obama will want to pivot away from the gay marriage issue now that he's got the accolades and money bounce he wanted.  The position isn't broadly popular, especially in some key swing states.  So he'll probably want to put the issue put on the back burner on a national level.

The key question is: will he let speaker after speaker promote gay marriage, lambast North Carolina, and risk turning it into a "gay marriage convention," and thereby, hurt himself in swing states?  Or will he silence the left or push them to the mid-afternoon, little-watched speaking slots, and possibly anger his base?  Place your bets.