Feature, Feb 21 – In the 2004 Presidential race, the issue that polarized the country more than any other was gay marriage. Republicans used the issue to turn out the conservative vote and solidify their base. Eleven states had initiatives on their ballots to ban same sex marriage, all of them passed. The state that came the closest to defeating the anti-gay measure was Oregon.

As correspondent Jes Burns reports, this election year is different. Opinions about gay unions seem to be shifting slightly. Jes Burns reports from Eugene, Oregon.

The first same-sex couple in Eugene emerges with their certificate of Domestic Partnership. After overcoming legal and petition challenges from the Right, Oregon's "Family Fairness Act" finally went into effect.

Robert Reid and his partner were among nearly 40 couples who lined up early.

"We're so excited; this is just a great day. You know this is one of the things we've been working for for almost thirty years."

The exhilaration at the county building was palpable. But same-sex couples in Oregon have been through this before – and they approach their civil rights victories with skepticism.

Not only are there in-state challenges, the idea of giving gays and lesbians marriage rights at the national level is slow to gain traction. All the presidential candidates, except long-shot Mike Gravel, are lukewarm on the idea of same-sex marriage

On the Republican side, front-runner John McCain did not support a federal constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. But he did support a change to Arizona's constitution denying governmental benefits to unmarried couples. Here he is on MS-NBC's Hardball in 2006.

"On the issue of the gay marriage: I believe that if people want to have private ceremonies, that's fine. I do not believe that gay marriages should be legal."

Evangelical Mike Huckabee's anti-gay stance goes quite a bit further; In a January 2008 interview on beliefnet.com, he put same-sex marriage in the same category as polygamy, pedophilia and bestiality.

Of the Republicans, Ron Paul is the most liberal – or truly conservative on the issue – merely because of his libertarian ideology.

"My personal belief is that marriage is a religious ceremony and should be dealt with religiously. The state really shouldn't be involved."

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both take the "separate but equal" stance and stop short of advocating for marriage.

"I am absolutely in favor of civil unions with full equality – full equality of benefits, rights and privileges," says Clinton.

Obama says, "What I have focused on, and what I will continue to focus on, is making sure the rights that are provided by the federal government, and the state governments, and the local governments are ones that are provided to everybody."

One thing all the candidates, except for Huckabee, have in common is that they believe the ultimate decision should be left up to the states. This means the fight will likely continue to be waged there, not nationally.