An Important change is happening in the presidential race — the belief that Mitt Romney could actually win is spreading. There is a growing confidence among his supporters, and the polls are starting to pick up a shift in his favor.

There is another indicator, however, and it is far more reliable. The left-leaning media is getting hysterical, launching over-the-top attacks on Romney and moving to protect President Obama as they see the public turning away from their man.

A CNN anchor compared Romney’s statement that “marriage is a relationship between one man and one woman” to George Wallace’s statement in 1963 that he favored “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”

An MSNBC guest compared Ann Romney to Hitler and Stalin.

The New York Times, faced with the fact that its own poll showed 67 percent of voters suspect Obama supported gay marriage mostly for political reasons, buried the story on the bottom of Page 17. And not until the 16th paragraph did it mention that the poll found Romney leading Obama by three points.

Then there’s the Newsweek cover that slapped a rainbow halo on the man it called “the first gay president” — an image that captures the quest to grant Obama messiah status.

The echo-chamber quality to the hysteria is of a piece with media cheerleading on the president’s gay-marriage stance, the lack of curiosity about how it came to pass, and what it means for the election.

Pundits and headline writers widely hail him as “brave” and “courageous” for “evolving” to yes, but Obama had little choice after Vice President Joe Biden announced his own support. True courage comes only when the choice is voluntary and there is another option. Acting when you have no other option is not courageous.

Moreover, the fact that Biden apologized to Obama for forcing him out is barely noted by the kudo chorus. The apology sequence doesn’t fit with the narrative of Obama “courage,” so the press ignores it.

Strange, too, that Obama declared gay marriage a civil right, but insisted it should be left to the states. His political allies are scratching their heads over that one — it’s a civil right or it’s not — but the media haven’t pursued that incoherent angle either.

Nor do his cheerleaders seem curious about whether he will support Harry Reid and others who want to include a call for gay marriage in the party’s official campaign platform.

A further twist adds more confusion. Obama said the law designed to leave it to the states — the Defense of Marriage Act, signed by Bill Clinton — is “unconstitutional.” So, is he going to propose another version? Nobody seems to care.

Whatever you believe about gay marriage, and I happen to support it, the media double standard is doing Obama more harm than good. Accusing Romney of using his stance as a “wedge issue” while painting Obama as a hero for his doesn’t pass the smell test.

Worse, Obama is falling into the adulation trap. His focus on gay marriage for the last week, complete with holding fund-raisers in Hollywood and having his campaign sell T-shirts celebrating the issue, adds to the perception that Obama is far more liberal than he admits.

Most important, it once again puts him on another page from the issues most voters care about — jobs and the economy.

The upshot is that Romney, simply by standing still while Obama whirls like a dervish at a private party, is consolidating conservative voters who were unsure of him in the GOP primaries.

Still, it must be said there is a certain logic as to why the media is so riveted by gay marriage, and why Obama, having taken the plunge, is talking about little else.

What else can the media possibly praise him for? And what else can he talk about?

Certainly not his record. So for now, it’s gay marriage — and bust.

Mike can’t bank on Quinn

On days like this, Mayor Bloomberg must be second-guessing himself. He long ago made it clear that Council Speaker Christine Quinn was his first choice as a successor, saying “she’ll make a good mayor.”

But that was when Quinn was running the council in lock step with his agenda. And she did deliver the votes to make his third term possible, so he owes her.

But how much? And at what price? The questions mount as each day brings fresh evidence that Quinn bolted from the reservation and isn’t coming home.

After bucking Bloomy on fingerprinting food-stamp recipients, his crackdown on homeless-shelter abuse, police stop and frisk, and two wage-fixing bills for private workers, Quinn took another hard turn left yesterday. Piggybacking on the $2 billion trading loss at JPMorgan Chase, she is pushing a piece of nonsense called the “Responsible Banking Act.”

The council promised the bill would “Make Nation’s Banking Capital the Capital of Responsible Banking,” whatever that means, while Quinn says it will “encourage banks to reinvest in the communities they serve.”

Right, like the mob “encourages” businesses to pay protection money.

The city unemployment rate stands at nearly 10 percent, and bank jobs are declining. The soaring cost of living here, driven by taxes, labor and regulations, compounds the anti-business attitude in Washington and Albany. The last thing employers need are more hurdles to growth.

But the lure of ATMs is irresistible. And now that the council claims a role in banking, members can shake down bankers for contributions. Oops, I mean they can “encourage” contributions.

Crook pols still cash in

Pedro Espada Jr. won’t be laughing all the way to the bank, but taxpayers are nonetheless giving the convicted crook a going-away present. For his eight years of “service” in Albany, the former state senator will get a monthly pension of $612.14, according to state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office.

That comes to about $7,400 a year, which is a bargain compared to the haul of one of his crooked Democratic pals, former Sen. Carl Kruger. He gets $4,834.25 a month, or $58,000 annually, for his 36 years of “service.”

Kruger also got seven years in the slammer, and Espada deserves no less.

Neither deserves a pension, but sometimes, the law is a ass. This is one of those times.

A silent victory

A report called “How New York City Won the Olympics” touts big developments that went ahead even though this year’s Summer Games will be held in London instead of Gotham. To the list of projects, we can add another — peace.

British military officials are planning to put missiles on top of London apartment buildings and shoot down any planes that wander into restricted air space.

Definitely, New York gets the gold.