The Manufactured ‘Costly Toll’ For Republicans Who Support Marriage Equality

Thursday’s New York Times featured an article about the “costly toll” of the election for the four Republican Senators in New York who broke from their party in 2011 to vote for marriage equality. The National Organization for Marriage waged a campaign of vengeance against James Alesi, Roy McDonald, Mark Grisanti, and Stephen Saland, and because only one of those four will be returning to office in 2013, conservatives have claimed a victory. Rev. Jason McGuire of New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms was all too happy to boast...Of course, several of the Senators explained that their minds had actually changed and they were voting their consciences, but conservatives only see the marriage equality as a betrayal. There are two main problems with the vengeance campaign. First, the likelihood of it actually impacting the fate of marriage equality in New York was marginal, if not “futile,” because New York doesn’t even have a referendum process. Secondly, the campaign didn’t actually work, because three of the seats are still occupied by Senators who support marriage equality.