US conservatives are, more and more, like Orwell's observation that "a critic is a gong at a railway crossing clanging loudly and vainly as the train goes by":

The move by the Democratic National Committee to put gay marriage into the party's platform at the convention for the first time ever could never have happened had President Obama not taken a public position on it before the election (and there is a split in the reporting on whether that was forced by Vice President Joe Biden going public first).

But what has been most remarkable about the announcement is the lack of pushback from mainstream Republicans. There has been very little by way of outcry over the decision, which was not made clear until today and which has been discussed behind closed doors for weeks by Democrats.

The public opinion on the issue has shifted, polling shows, including among independent women and younger GOPers. But nowhere is it clearer that there's been a change than among some of the party's most prominent donors.

As Emily and I wrote several weeks ago, some of Mitt Romney's biggest-name donors are funders of the gay marriage efforts in New York and, now, elsewhere in the country, including hedge funder Paul Singer, Cliff Asness, and Dan Loeb. Former RNC chairman Ken Mehlman is also supporting gay marriage efforts.

This is why, while it is a political risk for Democrats on some level, the benefits far outweigh the downsides - something that was unimaginable even a few years ago.

Destination: the right side of history.