Power Players  Obama hopes Supreme Court grants same-sex couples
right to marry  Power Players  Bottom Line  When George
Stephanopoulos asked President Obama if he could imagine a
compelling reason for a state to outlaw gay marriage, the answer
was pretty clear.  “So -- well, I can't, personally. I cannot,”
President Obama said Tuesday at the White House. That’s an
apparent shift on an issue that has tectonic movement in the
U.S. over the past year and is set to be before the U.S. Supreme
Court later this month.  The President praised what he called “a
healthy debate taking place state by state” and added that “not
every state has the exact same attitudes and cultural mores.”
“And I-- you know, my thinking was that this is traditionally a
state issue and-- that it will work itself out,” he said.  But,
then he added this:  “On the other hand-- what I also believe is
that the core principle that people don't get discriminated
against-- that's one of our core values. And it's in our
constitution. It's in-- the-