Results tagged “gangofthree”

Governor Paterson held a press conference today introducing legislation to legalize gay marriage in New York. The governor was not the least bit tepid in his strong support of the issue, saying he has been on record as an advocate for same-sex marriage since 1994. The state's first black governor drew a strong connection between the fight for marital rights and the abolition movement, citing the names of Harriet Beecher Stowe and Frederick Douglass. Paterson said:

So that deal to share power between State Senate minority leader Malcolm Smith and the "Gang of Three" Senators is dead. Smith said this morning, "When we first started out, the discussion was about reform and changing the government," but now negotiations were suspended "effective immediately." City Room reports that someone asked Smith, "You really thought this was about reform?" Ha!

Democrats now in the majority of the state senate for the first time in over forty years appear to be preparing to stall on voting to legalize gay marriage, a big issue that helped push them over the top this election year. Several factors appear to be giving Democrats hesitation: the strong wave that came out against gay marriage in the Prop 8 battle in California, fear of the issue backfiring on Governor Paterson's reelection chances in 2010 and the hopes to appease Gang of Three leader Ruben Diaz who has said he will not support a majority leader who would allow a same-sex marriage vote come to floor. Naturally that leaves many pushing for legalization ASAP upset after all the money poured into Democratic senate campaigns from gay rights groups around the country and the mobilization on their side amidst the Prop 8 battle. Liz Krueger, a senator from the Upper East Side told the Times, “We want to get there, but we want to get there the right way or else we risk setting ourselves back another decade."

While there have been no further signs from President-elect Obama that he will select Hillary Clinton to be his Secretary of State, speculation is still rampant about who Governor Paterson would choose to replace her in the senate if she does in fact take the position. Any of the original suggestions that Paterson would escape the state's overwhelming budget crisis and appoint himself seem to have been squashed with Paterson telling friends he plans to remain governor.