Obama used the libertarian/rino arguments and method to avoid the issue.
Obama was against a constitutional amendment or DOMA, calling it a “state” issue, although amending the constitution is completely legitimate and constitutional.
Obama/libertarians/Rand Paul know that they/he are running for federal office, where he would make policy for gay marriage at the federal level, in the military, for federal employment, and in immigration, the resulting pressure and public opinion making it impossible for a few states trying to deny those marriages, and deny marriages from other states.
Libertarians and leftists know what they are doing, and they know the language to use, in the end, they get what they want in social liberalism, and have, for 50 years.
I agree with Libertarians on a lot of issues...the more the democrats try to control every facet of our lives, the more libertarians will vote for conservative Republicans...
We can agree to disagree on issues like gay marriage, when Obamacare affects millions of Americans in a bigger and personal way...
Obama is a puppet.
Al Gore used a similar "let the states decide it" argument when he asked his position in euthanasia in the 2000 election. It's a standard politician's response when they're running for federal office and don't want to lose voters by taking a stand on a hot button issue.
Of course many freepers ignore that and claim Democrats and leftists would NEVER argue their "send it back to the states" applause line or EVER try to use state governments to thwart federal policies. Silly me, I could have sworn during the Bush era a bunch of leftist state governments ROUTINELY thumbed their nose at the Bush administration and enacted whatever they wanted, regardless of what federal law said about it.