You’ve got to be kidding. How can Tom Carper, my pick in the pool, still be holding out when a red-state Dem whose seat is up next year is switching? Good lord, man: You’re from one of the bluest states in the union and you just got reelected. There’s zero risk. Hand me a victory already. This is embarrassing.

Sen. Kay Hagan said Wednesday that she supported the right of gay people to marry, saying “we should not tell people who they can love or who they can marry.”…

“I know all our families do not look alike,” she added. “We all want the same thing for our families. We want happiness, we want health, prosperity, a bright future for our children and grandchildren. After conversations I’ve had with family members, with people I go to church with and with North Carolinians from all walks of life, I’ve come to my own personal conclusion that we should not tell people who they can love, or who they can marry. It’s time to move forward with this issue.”…

This was a difficult choice for Hagan who faces a potentially faces a tough re-election campaign next year in a culturally conservative state. North Carolina voters last year overwhelmingly approved a state constitutional amendment declaring marriage as being between a man and a woman…

Hagan opposed last year’s amendment as did many Democrats for whom she must rely on for support.

Maybe she figures she’s probably going to lose anyway, in which case she might as well roll the dice. I don’t know. Whatever the reason, this’ll be the ultimate test case of how much of a political liability SSM continues to be. If she can get reelected as a first-term Democratic incumbent in a conservative southern state just two years after it banned gay marriage, then this is effectively a non-issue.

No one had Hagan in the last pool thread so there are no bragging rights this time. Gotta be in it to win it, folks; place your bets below. I’ll grudgingly stick with Carper, but just to make this extra fun, here’s an intriguing tidbit posted last night on Twitter by Meghan McCain:

Big news being announced tomorrow… stay tuned.

— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) March 26, 2013

At least one fellow tweeter wondered whether that means Maverick himself is set to take the plunge. Meg was posting a bunch of pro-SSM stuff yesterday before that. Stay tuned.

While we wait for the next shoe to drop, via Freedom’s Lighthouse, here’s Bill O’Reilly dismissing SSM opponents for doing little more than “thump[ing] the Bible.” I’d heard that Fox has tilted a bit towards the center since the election and I know O’Reilly has always been less orthodox in his politics than, say, Hannity, but … I did not expect this coming from a guy who wrote a book called “Culture Warrior.” Wow.