The following things are not news: Craven horse-trading in the
New York state legislature, that State Sen. Pedro Espada plays
politics with his elbows high, and that Democratic Gov. David
Paterson is too politically weak to do anything about his party’s
bumbling, even after that bumbling cost them control of the New
York state Senate.
What is news: The GOP using gay marriage as a political football
against the Democrats – by coming out in favor it.
One month ago, Democrats had a slim 32-30 majority in the New
York state Senate. Now, thanks to the defection of Democratic
Sen. Pedro Espada, the Senate is split down the middle, 31-31,
with no lieutenant governor to break the tie. Neither side
can agree on who's in charge, so the Senate has been deadlocked
for almost a month.
Because the Republicans are the more disciplined caucus, the
solution is likely to involve one or two Democrats breaking ranks
and supporting the Republican slate for majority leader and
Senate president pro tem.
The issue most likely to push Democratic senators into the GOP
bloc is gay marriage.
One prime candidate is Ruben Diaz Sr. of the Bronx, who
threatened to follow Espada onto the Republican side if the
Democrats put gay marriage on the table but then chickened out
when Paterson did put it at the top of his legislative
agenda on June 24. There's still a chance he might defect:
Diaz, a Pentecostal minister who, like Espada, represents the
Bronx, vowed back in November that "my position as an ordained
minister and a pastor will not allow me to support any would-be
leader that will bring gay marriage to the Senate floor."
According to a
New York Magazine cover story, Espada "nudged
Paterson" to include gay marriage on the agenda in order to win
Diaz over to the Republicans. (According to the article,
after Paterson announced that his agenda would include gay
marriage, Espada asked for Diaz: "Write him a note that says,
'Call Pedro!'")
But Espada, who supports gay marriage, has cast his net among gay
rights advocates, too – like Sen. Tom Duane of Manhattan. Shortly
after the June 8 coup that put the Republicans in charge, Duane
gave this quote to the New York Times: "Today, I’m in
the Democratic conference, and I’m a Democrat. There’s no way to
predict what’s going to happen tomorrow, let alone what’s going
to happen when everyone comes back on Monday." He later clarified
that "There is zero chance of me becoming part of a
Republican-led majority or a Republican, ever" – a clarification
that has put the brakes on
speculation that Duane will "go G.O.P." in order to get gay
marriage passed this year. Still, Espada has made no secret
of the fact that, if Duane reconsidered, the Republican side
would be listening. (By contrast, Democratic leader Malcolm Smith
is less than
fully committed to holding a vote so soon.)
In New York, even conservative Republicans
like former Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno support gay
marriage these days.
It's unlikely that the national Republican Party will outflank
the Democrats on gay marriage, and, certainly, using gay marriage
to court a traditionalist like Ruben Diaz won't win Espada any
friends on Christopher Street, but it's still remarkable that
Albany Republicans would be willing to see gay marriage passed in
New York in exchange for control of the Senate. A man in Albany
gave us the old
moderate Republicanism; is this the new?
