So when will Santorum and Seattleblues follow the memo's suggestions?

(And when the day comes, we'll read that Seattleblues supports gay marriage. Seattleblues has always supported gay marriage.)

The problem isn't whether the politicians will change their story

They will.

With an addendum of, "it just wasn't the right time."

The problem is what will happen to the marginalized religious right. And will they open up a third party, or will they back off the issue.

It won't be hard for Mitt to support equality when the time comes, his programmers have probably already written the code for it.

The Republicans are in kind of a tough spot. If they drop the anti-gay rhetoric they'll lose conservatives, but if they keep it up, they'll turn off independents.

@5:

And Romney doesn't have a snowballs chance of winning the White House without BOTH of those constituencies solidly behind him, so basically he's screwed.

@7 - Thankfully.

Right wing bigotry and racism are rooted in religion and religion fights any change, tooth and nail. As proof I offer the mountain of evidence detailing evolutionary changes to miriad of living things. It's not enough.

Andrew Sullivan has consistently promoted the idea that marriage is conservative and that denying the right to marriage is NOT a conservative position. (Depends on what "conservative" means. YMMV.)

It's funny how the conservatives who are constantly screaming about "FREEDOM!" are the ones trying to take it away from others.

I've been telling the 47th this for years.

@1 Yep, you nailed it. The GOP depends on their constituents to have the memory of Leonard Shelby. The amount of idiocy & incompetence of Bush/Cheney is legion, not to mention outright treason and crimes against humanity. But conservatives remember how it was all Nancy Pelosi's evil machinations that brought about Guantanamo, or how Obama, being the Muslim socialist that he is, started the war in Iraq based on lies. I won't be surprised to hear w/in the next 12 months some GOP front-runner explaining to the audience that the rights of gays & lesbians have always been an issue championed by the conservatives, and get a standing ovation for it. You could sell those people dog food for $1k a plate. As long as you told them it was Conserva-a-Food, they'd gobble it up & beg for more.

@12
"The amount of idiocy & incompetence of Bush/Cheney is legion, not to mention outright treason and crimes against humanity."

First off, it doesn't matter. Think of it as a sports team. No matter what the quarterback was caught doing last year the fans still support the team when they get a different quarterback.

Secondly, they will just rebrand for the segment that needs it. That's what the Tea Party is for.

"I won't be surprised to hear w/in the next 12 months some GOP front-runner explaining to the audience that the rights of gays & lesbians have always been an issue championed by the conservatives, and get a standing ovation for it."

That will require significant rebranding.
Remember that it is "the gays" who are child molesters.
You cannot let "the gays" adopt kids.
And any kids that they have of their own are in danger.
And do you really want legally married gays with kids to host other people's kids at birthday parties in their gay home?

The hatred is very deep on this (as are the lies).

Just look at the trouble Romney had with condemning Limbaugh's statements about Fluke being a "slut" and a "prostitute". And that would be male - female sex.

Legal guy-on-guy with the kids sleeping in the next room ... I don't see the Republican base endorsing that until the existing base has mostly died out.

@3
I would LOVE to see the conservative Christians start a third party. It would die within a few years, but it would wreak havoc on the Republicans for a decade.

@1: Santorum and SB are true believers who will go down with the ship. This document is a talking points memo for young Republicans across the nation with no interest in their Grandfather's social issues politics. In our state, The Few Young R's With A Future (TM), such as Reagan Dunn and Joe Fain, have already gotten with the marriage equality program. More will follow.

@13, hey fairly, don't think for a minute I don't understand the depth of their depravity on this issue. Believe me, I get it. I'm simply pointing out the incredible divide between fantasy & reality that conservatives have.

Let the Repubs go down the road they've chosen right into political oblivion. If it keeps Romneybot out of the White House, that's fine with me.

In fairness, let’s all try to remember that Cheney (the evil genius who really controlled the Bush White House) came out as pro-gay marriage in 2009. And, while everyone is being impressed with Obama’s “evolution” on marriage equality, we should also be acknowledging Biden’s complete flip-flop on the topic (he voted FOR DOMA in 1996). And speaking of Obama’s “evolution”, let’s all remember he’s still not as “evolved” as Ted Olson (the conservative lawyer who stole Gore’s presidency for Bush) who, unlike Obama, believes that marriage equality is a constitutional right, not an “issue for the states to decide”.

@3 the culture warriors on the religious right will whine and complain, but as long as they've got abortion they'll stay Republican.