Mayor Bloomberg thinks that he could strong-arm local Republican state senators into voting for a gay marriage bill, but he doesn't seem to believe that the Democrats have the cajones to bring Governor Paterson's same-sex marriage legislation to the floor. Asked why he thought he could change the minds of some pretty staunch GOP gay marriage opponents, Bloomberg said, “I’m the main funder. You know, you can’t dictate every piece of legislation, and I don’t want to say that they’re bribable. But they know where I stand, and they want me to be a supporter.”
In a candid interview with Gay City News, Bloomberg was addressing the possibility to sway senators such Martin Golden of Brooklyn and Frank Padavan of Queens, who have both spoke out against Governor Paterson's gay marriage stances. But the mayor thinks he could get them to vote yes because of the huge checks he's written to GOP senate campaigns. However Bloomberg doesn't think he'll be put to the test because he puts the chances of the bill reaching the floor at "zero, zero" and says, “I don’t know how to get it to come up...when I don’t see (state senators) willing to stand up for less controversial issues.”
The mayor seemed to be giving the hard sell to the LGBT community as he heads down the home stretch of his reelection campaign. In trying to contrast himself from opponent Bill Thompson as not having to cater to some of Thompson's more socially conservative supporters, Bloomberg said, “Maybe it’s the fact that I’m independently wealthy and I’m 67 years old, but my attitude is if you want me, you want me.”
