NY State Senator Ton Duane was confident he had the votes for Marriage Equality to pass the New York Senate. And yet it did not happen. While the focus has been on the 8 Democrats who voted NO, there is another culprit here -- one that we need to stop making fun of and start taking seriously -- the Republican Purity Test.
Duane knew that there were going to be some Democratic NO votes. Therefore, he knew that he needed help from the Republicans. As recently as last night, he thought he had them. Listen to him today:
"I wasn't expected to be betrayed, and so I have some justified anger... I'm disappointed. I am let down. I'm betrayed... I think there was a contagious lack of backbone that occurred here today..."
Before the Senate meltdown at the end of the summer, he had the votes. This was before our epic failure in Maine, the rise of NOM, the evisceration of the "official Republican" in NY-23. Before the Purity Test.
The Republican senator of last August could have risked voting yes, but not the Republican of December. They got the message loud & clear -- support marriage equality & you will lose your seat. And their votes today showed their cowardice in so many ways.
The lesson of Prop 8 was that apathy kills. The message of Maine is that money and activism is not enough. A year ago, the Mormon and Catholic Churches were not the vocal players they are now. We laughed at NOM. We laughed at the Purity Test. But they were the victors tonight.
It is time to stop laughing, start realizing that we have a formidable foe, and let's start getting serious about this fight. Will the Purity Test purge the party of moderates? Yes. Will current moderates become strident wingnuts? Yes. Will this make them less electable? Maybe. But now it is up to us -- it is time for us to make them pay at the ballot boxes. It is time for us to get more involved in each and every senate race in each and every district. 50 State strategy? We need a 62 County Strategy in New York!