Top McCain Aide Comes Out for Gay Marriage

Backing what he calls "a sound conservative argument," a top McCain campaign operative is explaining his newly public personal support for gay marriage, CNN reports. Steve Schmidt will address the Log Cabin Republicans today and urge them to reverse their position. “No other exercise of one's liberty comes with greater responsibilities than marriage,” an advance text says.

“It cannot be argued that marriage between people of the same sex is un American or threatens the rights of others,” contends Schmidt, whose sister is gay. He also makes a political argument for abandoning the stance of his 2008 candidate, who lost voters under 30 by a wide margin. "We need to grow our coalition, but that's hard to do if we lose some votes while gaining others," he says.