One Man's CLOUT May DERAIL Gay Marriage in NY

Segami

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Thu May-19-11 08:22 PM
Original message

One Man's CLOUT May DERAIL Gay Marriage in NY

Conservative Party Is Obstacle to Gay Marriage

"Michael R. Long works out of a cluttered office above a Greek restaurant in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, one block from the liquor store that still bears his family’s name, with a replica John Wayne revolver and a photo of Ronald Reagan on the wall. Unlike other political bosses, he fields no phalanx of high-priced lobbyists and consultants. He is virtually unknown to most New Yorkers.

But Mr. Long, the chairman of the state Conservative Party, has emerged this year as the single most potent — and immovable — obstacle to the legalization of same-sex marriage in New York.

As supporters enlist celebrity endorsements, opponents spin up advertising campaigns, and both sides swarm the State Capitol to lobby wavering lawmakers, the gravel-voiced Mr. Long, a father of nine, has used two simple weapons: an unshakable belief that gay unions would undermine the institution of marriage, and his power to bestow, or withdraw, the Conservative Party ballot line in next year’s legislative elections.

“In order to get the endorsement of the Conservative Party, one of the deal breakers is traditional marriage,” Mr. Long said in an interview last week. “You say ‘I’m not for traditional marriage,’ you’re not going to get our endorsement. It’s as simple as that.”

It is not an idle threat.

cont'

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/20/nyregion/michael-long-is-gay-marriages-no-1-obstacle-in-ny.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&hp

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Bubba Kush

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Thu May-19-11 08:26 PM
Response to Original message

1. So this useless piece of shit can't figure how to stay out of people's sex lives?

Fine, fuck him, and his goons.

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RKP5637

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Thu May-19-11 08:55 PM
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2. I AM SO FUCKED TIRED OF ASSHOLES LIKE THIS. FUCKEN ASSHOLE CREEPS!!! n/t

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readmoreoften

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Thu May-19-11 08:59 PM
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3. But why would anyone care to get his endorsement? This makes no sense to me.

Who cares? That's why you isolate these thugs and you don't do business or "bipartisan" with them. Fuck them.

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Segami

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Thu May-19-11 09:14 PM
Response to Reply #3

6. If Republican's lose their support, they could lose the Senate.

" New York is among a handful of states where elected officials can run on the ballot line of more than one party, and Republicans have come to rely on Conservative Party votes to win office in an increasingly Democratic-leaning state. No Republican has won statewide office without the Conservative Party’s support in more than three decades. When Republicans won control of the State Senate last year, five of the Republican candidates won by a margin less than the number of votes they received on the Conservative line.

Now, Mr. Long’s influence has stymied an aggressive, well-financed drive to pass a same-sex marriage bill in the Senate, where it failed two years ago, when the Senate was controlled by the Democrats.

But not a single Senate Republican has expressed support for the measure. While advocates are focused on them, the Republicans say they are focused on Mr. Long. Lose his support, some Republican lawmakers fear, and they could lose the Senate.

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Shagbark Hickory

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Thu May-19-11 09:00 PM
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4. He can take all nine of his brood and jam them up his conservative ass!

Edited on Thu May-19-11 09:02 PM by Shagbark Hickory

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RKP5637

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Thu May-19-11 09:09 PM
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5. Picture Titled, "Portrait of an Asshole."

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Zoeisright

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Thu May-19-11 09:49 PM
Response to Original message

7. Wow, he sure is gross.

Yeah, quit obsessing about gay sex, ya creep.

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bullwinkle428

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Thu May-19-11 09:52 PM
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8. Didn't old-line conservatives used to be about staying out of

peoples' personal lives?

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