Civil Union back on the table?

When asked about what he would do about to allow gay marriage and ensure same-sex couples are entitled to same benefits enjoyed by married heterosexual couples, President Obama avoided answering the first part of the question but made the following comments on the latter:

Look, as I said last night, my belief is, is that a basic principle in our Constitution is that if you're obeying the law, if you're following the rules, that you should be treated the same, regardless of who you are. (Applause.) I think that principle applies to gay and lesbian couples. So at the federal level, one of the things that we're trying to do is to make sure that partnerships are recognized for purposes of benefits so that hospital visitation, for example, is something that is permitted; that Social Security benefits or pension benefits or others, that same-sex couples are recognized in all those circumstances.

So does that mean Civil Union is back on the table? In any case, we should not get too excited. This is definitely not something President Obama would touch during his first term.