New York GOP Has "Gay" Old Time at Spitzer's Expense

Not that the moribund New York State GOP has had much to celebrate, but the recent foibles of the inept Eliot Spitzer have sure provided an opening for them.

From driver's licenses for illegals to parole for cop-killers to onerous taxation and now on to gay marriage, it's hasn't exactly been a great couple of months for the rookie governor, who's watched his poll numbers crater.

After the latest misstep, some in the GOP are crowing.

Republican lawmakers yesterday mocked Gov. Spitzer's claim that passing a bill legalizing gay marriage would be a top priority if the Democrats take control of the state Senate.

Republicans and even some top Democratic political consultants predicted that the issue could impact races in swing suburban and upstate districts next year and help the GOP maintain its slim majority.

"This is just dumb and shows that [Spitzer] doesn't understand real politics," said one Democratic consultant. "If you want to win Long Island, gay marriage isn't the issue; property taxes does it."

The Post yesterday cited three witnesses who saw Spitzer during Wednesday's private fund-raiser for the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee. At the gala, he crowed that "one of the first things we're going to do when [Senate Minority Leader] Malcolm Smith is [majority] leader is gay marriage."

A Spitzer spokeswoman denied that the governor said a Democratic-controlled Senate would make gay marriage a top priority, but Smith recalled that the governor remarked that a Democratic Senate could have followed the Assembly passage of a gay-marriage bill earlier this year.

A Siena College poll in May showed public opinion closely divided on gay marriage, with 47 percent of New Yorkers against it and 43 percent in favor. A May 2004 Quinnipiac survey found 55 percent opposed and 37 percent in favor.

Clearly, there is a divide on the issue, and having forfeited any good will from the public, this isn't exactly a good time to be foisting this divisive issue on the public. Even some who are for gay marriage think it's a bad idea.

Ed Elg, a 21-year-old waiter, says it's more important that his friends be pro gay marriage, as he is, than that any political office seeker be.

"For me, someone running a city, a state or county, there's other issues more important to their jobs," said Elg, a Democrat.

UPDATE: Glenn Reynolds links. Thanks!