He uses a bunch of unsourced claims and three emails between people who were not part of the action on the New York marriage equality bill in the Senate to reach this conclusion:
And then this very interesting one from Jeff Campagna of a gay rights activists group called “The Power”:
8 voted no and from what I’m hearing Gill and HRC backed two of them with the assurance they would vote with us. Can Gill or HRC confirm whether or not they were given such assurances?
Jeff Campagna
www.ThePowerOnline.org
In fact, it looks like Gill had funded several of the legislators and saw some of them betray him.
I wonder if New York voters, along with voters in Virginia and elsewhere that have seen Gill’s money leverage leftists in the legislature, are paying attention. A gaggle of gay men and lesbians are funneling money into state legislative races in attempts to impose gay marriage on citizens without their vote, either through bought and paid for legislators or, more troubling, judges.
New York magazine has a long, detailed article on how the gay rights movement in New York launched a strategy in 2006 to try and win control of the seemingly permanently Republican state senate in 2008. They raised a lot of money for a lot of Democratic candidates and on election night the Democrats emerged with a one-vote majority:
By late summer, they [the Gill Action Fund and Empire State Pride Agenda, a lobbying group] decided to pour $1 million into defeating several vulnerable Republicans, especially Serphin Maltese in Queens and Caesar Trunzo in Long Island. Still, before the checks were mailed, the Gillites and the Pride Agenda needed reassurance. The Senate’s Democratic leader, Malcolm Smith, a small-time real-estate developer from Queens, had risen to power under the wing of former congressman Floyd Flake, a minister and staunch opponent of gay marriage. In October 2006, days after Smith was elected minority leader, he had broken with Flake over this issue. This fulfilled a promise he’d made to Tom Duane, the gay Manhattan senator. Smith, a black moderate, had edged out other contenders in large part thanks to Duane’s endorsement. “It was a progressive imprimatur,” says Duane...
In November, Democrats picked up two seats, electing Brian Foley in Long Island and Joseph Addabbo Jr. in Queens (both of whom were publicly undecided on gay marriage) and entered the year with a 32-to-30 majority. Smith became majority leader. Democrats say Gill’s money probably put them over the top.
All told, gay rights groups and donors affiliated with them have given a total of at least $480,000 this year to Democratic Senate candidates and campaign funds controlled by Democrats, according to the most recent disclosure documents available. Much of that money was donated in the past month and pointed at a handful of competitive races, campaign finance filings show.
Tim Gill, an entrepreneur and philanthropist from Denver who founded the Gill Foundation, is responsible for at least $114,000 of that amount, with his largest gift, $50,000, made in April to the New York State Democratic Committee. That puts Mr. Gill among the single largest donors to the state party this year.The article goes on to list other gay rights groups that kicked in contributions to that total. It's interesting that part of the Gill money went to the state party committee, which would have been free to spend it where they felt it would be the most use, not just on Erickson's imgined zombie gay-voting clones.
Of the eight Democratic senators who voted no, only one- of the group elected in 2008- has admitted to getting Gill money, and, sadly for Erickson's source-free thesis, has already declared there was never a quid pro quo:
N.Y. Senator: Why I Voted "No" (With Audio)
New York state senator Joseph Addabbo, who voted against the marriage equality bill that failed to pass on Wednesday, explains his vote.
New York state senator Joseph Addabbo, one of eight Democrats who voted against the marriage equality bill that failed by a shocking 24-38 margin on Wednesday, appeared on TheBrian Lehrer Show on WNYC on Friday to explain his “no” vote.
Addabbo, who narrowly defeated a Republican incumbent to win his Queens seat in 2008, came under fire immediately after the vote on Wednesday as one of the Democrats suspected of having “betrayed” advocates including Sen. Tom Duane, the gay man sponsoring the bill.
State campaign finance records indicate that in 2008, Addaboo received $9,500, the maximum allowable contribution, from gay philanthropist Tim Gill, the backer of the Gill Action Fund. The contribution was part of the wave of support, ultimately totaling close to $1 million, that helped flip the senate to Democratic control and install candidates who pledged to uphold pro-LGBT positions, including support for marriage equality.
On Friday, Addabbo defended himself by saying that he had never promised to vote “yes” on the bill and that he wanted to keep his options open in order to gauge the sentiments of his constituents.
“At no point did I ever say ‘yes,’” said Addabbo. “I proposed I would keep an open mind.”
“It was my intention to keep an open mind and by doing so, I felt that I would get a clear indication of where my district stands on this issue,” said Addabbo, who said that he received more than 400 communications from constituents, 74% of whom opposed marriage equality.
Pressed on whether he would also allow 74% of constituents to influence a vote on something absurd, such as a hypothetical proposal to deport all the Hispanics in the district, Addabbo said, “It’s apples and oranges.”
Addabbo acknowledged that he received financial support from gay rights advocates in his election bid, but he insisted that he never promised anyone that he would vote “yes.” He also criticized the process by which his conference deliberated the bill.
He declined to disclose his personal position on marriage equality.
Of the eight Democrats voting no, three were elected in 2008 (one in a special non-November, election). Of the rest:
It was arguably gay rights money that gave Queens Senator Joseph Addabbo a decisive edge over an incumbent Republican last year, a victory key to the Democratic takeover. But Democratic leadership and gaylobbyists couldn't prevail upon the senator, who just watched conservative voting blocs in Howard Beach, Ozone Park, and other southern parts of his Queens district elect Eric Ulrich, a 24-year-old Republican opposed to gay marriage, to the City Council. Another Democrat thought to be in the yes camp, Hiram Monserrate , opted to throw a Hail Mary to salvage a political future upended by a domestic abuse trial. Facing a primary threat from a Democrat with strong gay support, Monserrate has sought to hitch himself to evangelical voters in his Queens district.
And the whole business came up for a vote on a snap decision by New York's unpopular governor, David Paterson, to push for an early vote to improve his own fortunes, and because gay Senate leader Tom Duane made a poor showing making the case for marriage equality, not to mention counting votes. So there's no real link to be made between the money given in 2008 to one state senator who voted no, and the result, which occurred under a surprise change in the legislative calendar.
The courts, of course, had nothing to do with the state senate vote, and Erickson cites no proof to buttress his conclusion that "A gaggle of gay men and lesbians are funneling money into state legislative races in attempts to impose gay marriage on citizens without their vote, either through bought and paid for legislators or, more troubling, judges."
About the imposition on the voters: A Marist poll released the day of the vote found New York voters favored marriage equality legislation, 51-42.
About the imposition on the voters: A Marist poll released the day of the vote found New York voters favored marriage equality legislation, 51-42.
Bloggers as smart and influential as Red State really ought to give the whingeing about liberal media bias and stories not covered in the MSM a rest until they, themselves, can do the basic legwork to get a story where the facts back the conclusion.
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