For those individuals perverted enough to assess the field of 2016 Republican presidential candidates at this early date, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is considered a serious contender. He's a boring politician, but Republicans trust him as a defender of their core values. So what does this Journal-Sentinel story mean?

Scott Walker backed away from his previous support for the [Wisconsin] state ban on gay marriage passed in 2006, saying he didn't know if it violated the U.S. Constitution, would still be approved by voters today or would amount to a big change for the state's values and economy if overturned.

Making clear he wanted no part of this legal battle in an election year, the Republican governor said he was focused on other priorities. Though as governor Walker is one of the defendants in the lawsuit, he said gay marriage was an issue for [Wisconsin Attorney General J.B.] Van Hollen and the federal judge, not him.

"Any federal judge has got to look at that law not only with respect to the state's constitution but what it means in terms of the U.S. Constitution, as well. Again, I'm not going to pretend to tell a federal judge in that regard what he or she should do about it," Walker said. "...I don't know what (allowing gay marriage) means. Voters don't talk to me about that. They talk to me about the economy. They talk to me about their kids' schools."

The message is pretty clear, I think: Walker knows he can't win on gay marriage anymore. His last major statement against gay marriage in his state was in August of last year, and even that lacked the fire and brimstone of some of Walker's previous statements on gay marriage. He's been a defender of states' rights when it comes to fighting same sex marriage, but now even Walker understands that states' rights is a losing position. Instead, he's going to sidestep the issue and hope nobody brings it up. Good luck with that.