Christie Ducks Question on Constitutional Amendment

While Chris Christie clearly said he's "not a fan" of gay marriage, he dodged during an interview this weekend on whether a constitutional amendment is needed to fight its spread nationwide.

Meet the Press moderator David Gregory asked the New Jersey governor whether "states like New York should have the right to do what they did, or do you believe in a constitutional amendment that would bar states from passing same-sex marriage?"

Christie answered the direct question by talking about his continued opposition to gay marriage in his own state but said nothing about whether states have a right to make gay marriage legal or whether an amendment should bar states from doing so.

"I'll tell you, in New Jersey we have a civil union law," he said. "And we had a very vigorous debate in late 2009, early 2010 -- before I became governor -- about same-sex marriage, and it failed in the state legislature under a Democratic legislature with Democratic governor Jon Corzine. And so my view on it is, in our state we're going to continue to pursue civil unions."

In a recent interview on CNN, Christie even more explicitly supported civil unions as a way to grant equal rights, and he's said being gay is not a sin -- similar positions to those of President Barack Obama, who is on record opposing amending the nation's Constitution or that of any states.

A bill to make gay marriage legal is being introduced in Christie's state, but the governor made it clear he's not in favor.

"I am not a fan of same-sex marriage," he said. "It's not something that I support. I believe marriage should be between one man and one woman. That's my view, and that'll be the view of our state because I wouldn't sign a bill that, like the one that was in New York."

Christie's name has repeatedly been floated as a potential presidential contender in 2012, and he's repeatedly shot down the idea. Most of the Republican candidates for president have expressed support for a constitutional amendment, including Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, and Tim Pawlenty.

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