After Maryland came tantalizing close to instituting marriage equality this past year, Governor Martin O'Malley (D) is gearing up for a renewed push.
It's unclear how, if at all, the political dynamic has changed in Annapolis. O'Malley has some boilerplate about how the trendlines are in our favor (and they are), but there's no word on movement by any particular state legislator. Of course, the bill really just failed to pass last time, so even assuming no change we're still in toss-up territory.
I have to add my kudos to Governor O'Malley, who is starting to demonstrate real leadership on the issue. It isn't just "if it passes, I'm willing to sign it" -- he's made it known that he completely and unambiguously supports the legislation, and thinks it should pass. So good for him. And hopefully, this time Maryland will indeed do the right thing.
Can he try the Cuomo strategy, or are there not enough rich Log Cabin Republicans in MD?
ReplyDeleteI don't think so -- the Maryland State Senate (where gay marriage died last time) has a 35-12 Democratic advantage, so it's really more about convincing some more conservative/religious Democrats to stay in line. What few GOPers there are tend to be pretty hardline.
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