Whoa. President Obama has heard you loud and clear, and he has come out in favor of same-sex marriage. He gave an interview today to ABC News’ Robin Roberts and said as much. The interview will appear tomorrow on Good Morning America and ensures Obama will not officially be the last Democrat presidential candidate to fight against same-sex marriage. Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

“I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married.”

Yesterday, former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell told MSNBC that Obama needs to “man up” and tell the world what he really thinks of gay marriage, saying “the people who vote solely on this issue, single-issue voters, gay marriage, none of them are voting for Barack Obama now, and they’re not going to vote for him whether he says he’s against it.”

Obama previously said his religion barred him from embracing same sex marriage. During last weekend’s legal panel at the Equality Forum, panelists praised the work President Obama had done on the issue, though there was lots of work to be done. Today’s announcement may kickstart that work again and, of course, turns this into a larger issue in the 2012 presidential election. That being said, his endorsement is just that; as of now, there is nothing politically he can, or will do. Blue dog Democrats: put up your arms and begin walking away, slowly.

UPDATE: As noted by the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Tom Fitzgerald, via Twitter, “Obama supported same-sex marriage in 1996, in questionnaire as a state sen. candidate in IL.”