The New York Times on pro-SSM flip-flopper Sen. Roy McDonald's race (the primary is tomorrow) -- they give our own President Brian Brown the last word:
Before State Senator Roy J. McDonald, a Republican, voted last year to legalize same-sex marriage, he told reporters that anyone unhappy with his position could “take the job and shove it.”
Now comes the test.
... his campaign has become a referendum on a single decision: his choice last year to cast one of the decisive votes that made same-sex marriage legal in New York State.
... “The more that the advocates for this are able to tell Republicans that you can do this and live, then the greater success they’re going to have,” said Robert J. Bellafiore, a communications consultant and former press secretary for Gov. George E. Pataki, a Republican. “But it’s hard to convince somebody to take their first bungee jump if all they see at the bottom of the jump is a bunch of splattered bodies.”
... Mr. McDonald, who was also once a state assemblyman, said he would not regret his marriage vote even if it ended his political career.
... At a debate on Tuesday night at Russell Sage College in Troy, Ms. Marchione attacked Mr. McDonald for his vote on same-sex marriage, and the audience was at its most boisterous when the subject was discussed.
Ms. Marchione painted the senator as desperate to keep his office, saying, “I guess he’s changed his mind about taking the job and shoving it.” She repeatedly suggested that Mr. McDonald’s vote had been motivated by the promise of campaign donations.
... “Regardless of what happens, it is an utter lie to say, ‘Vote for gay marriage; it won’t have any effect,’ ” Brian S. Brown, the organization’s president, said. “I don’t think any observer on the left or the right can say that’s the case.”
... Gay marriage opponents are also stepping up their efforts. The Roman Catholic Church has kicked off a series of meetings to promote its view of marriage being between a man and a woman. And the National Organization for Marriage has made a $500,000 matching contribution to fight same-sex marriage.
"I did what I thought was right," said McDonald. "I've gotten money from all over my district, names you know, names you've never heard of, and all over the state. I'm a local guy, and I feel I've done a good job working on many issues, and my record is more than just minutiae."
When the Diocese of Worcester unexpectedly dropped out of negotiations with them in June, Fairbanks and Beret were shocked — and flummoxed. Then, they say, a church attorney inadvertently forwarded their broker an e-mail from Monsignor Thomas Sullivan, chancellor of the diocese, advising a church broker that he was no longer interested in selling to Fairbanks and Beret “because of a potentiality of gay marriages” there.
As Minnesota's Muslim population grows, both sides of the marriage amendment debate are vying to tap their growing activism and win over an estimated 50,000 potential voters.
