The New York legislature just gave us more evidence that marriage protection isn’t a losing issue, despite clamoring to the contrary.

On the heels of Maine’s handy rejection of same-sex marriage, the New York state Senate voted 38 to 24 to kill legislation that would have redefined civil marriage to include homosexual couples. In a liberal northeastern state, that comfortable of a margin is akin to a landslide, particularly since Gov. David Paterson promised to sign the measure into law.

To recap, 30 states have amended their constitutions to define marriage as between a man and a woman, and only five states have neither an amendment nor a statute limiting marriage to heterosexuals.

From a strictly political standpoint, I see no reason not to include this issue in the GOP platform. From a strictly historical and cultural viewpoint, I see many reasons why the party should.