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The dual victories the Supreme Court handed to gay-marriage supporters Wednesday seemed to temporarily shift the focus of the fight from Washington to the states.

For instance, one of the more notable reactions to the Supreme Court decisions overturning the Defense of Marriage Act and upholding a lower court ruling that blocked California's Proposition 8 from taking effect came from the American Civil Liberties Union.

The ACLU announced Wednesday it had hired well-connected GOP political strategist Steve Schmidt, who worked for President George W. Bush and was a senior adviser to Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign, to lead an effort to gain Republican support for gay marriage in the states. The civil liberties group, which helped represent plaintiff Edie Windsor in the case that overturned DOMA, said it had amassed a $10 million war chest for the effort.

The ACLU said it had also hired Jimmy LaSalvia, founder of the gay-rights group GOProud, in an attempt to add conservatives to its coalition to overturn state bans.

In its statement, the ACLU explained:

"Schmidt's role will be to help spearhead the campaign to strike down state-based laws prohibiting same-sex marriage. The campaign will, over the next four years, challenge legislative and constitutional provisions in states such as Illinois, Oregon, Hawaii, New Mexico, and others. The ACLU aims to spend roughly $10 million through 2016 and will officially announce the initiative with an ad in tomorrow's edition of The Wall Street Journal."