In the immediate aftermath of Monserrate and Espada’s switcheroo, diaries analyzing the shenanigans in Albany proliferated. And each one had a common theme: there were always a number of people in the comments talking about how the disloyal Dems turned coat to keep the marriage equality bill off the floor.
The fact that the Albany Project had them listed as undecided and in favor, respectively, was apparently unpersuasive. As was the notable absence of Ruben Diaz, the biggest marriage-blocker in the Senate.
Well, now the Daily News’ "Daily Politics" feature informs us that kinda-sorta-President Pro Tem Pedro Espada is considering bringing the marriage bill to the floor in order to bring some of the other Democrats – who boycotted yesterday’s attempt to reopen the Senate – back into the chamber.
Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. is making no secret of the fact that he is pushing the idea of bringing the gay marriage bill up for a vote as a means of luring other Democrats into the coalition government.
"We all want the Senat Democrats to come in and participate," he said. "As I get the same sex marriage bill on the floor, they’ll take their seats, they’ll debate it."
Espada told reporters today that he has spoken to the Senate sponsor of Gov. David Paterson's gay marriage bill, Tom Duane, who is "very ecstatic" about the idea that the measure might move. Ditto, he claims, for the Empire State Pride Agenda.
"The public would be excited," Espada said. "The 19 million people, if they could speak clearly and directly, they would applaud this, because gridlock kept them from really have a government that they deserved."
(Apparently, the irony of this statement, given the fact that the Senate coup has caused its own special brand of gridlock, was lost on Espada).
Duane has been largely absent from the Capitol, although his spokesman, Eric Sumberg, said the senator had departed his hotel room and showed up here for meetings yesterday. He retreated when things got too "intense."
There has been much speculation about whether Duane might be willing to do a deal with the coalition government, agreeing to join them in exchange for getting gay marriage out of the holding pattern into which Sen. Malcolm Smith placed it.
Of course, Duane has since given assurances that there is "zero chance" that he’ll join the Republican coalition. But can we all just finally put to rest the idea that this is somehow the fault of the gay community pushing too hard for marriage equality? We've seen by now that Espada and Monserrate are pretty awful as legislators and human beings. But I don't think someone who threw the legislature into chaos to block marriage equality would then propose going ahead with it to pull people back in. It was a power grab, plain and simple.