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For someone who claims to be in favor of marriage equality and someone who is poised to be the next Senate President, Senator Sweeney had an opportunity to demonstrate true leadership on an issue of basic equal rights. And he bravely punted on an issue that should be a signature issue of his party - equal rights under the law.
Sweeney was one of three abstentions on the marriage equality vote, and his cowardice was explained so well by Charlie Stile's article late last week: It's also clear that the next Democratic Senate president, Stephen Sweeney, wants nothing to do with it. Sweeney, soon to be the second most powerful person in Trenton, abstained on the grounds that the measure was doomed for defeat. Instead of declaring where he stood on a gut-check, civil rights issue, Sweeney made a strategic decision to play it safe.
This comment was backed up by Sweeney's own words: "They [same sex marriage advocates] made a very strong case, and I would have been very happy to pass it," Sweeney said. "It wasn't close, unfortunately."
So, no whipping other Senators to vote in favor of a bill he personally believes in. In fact, his comments a few weeks ago indicated that he would rather focus on the economy during the lame duck session (good thing they saved the economy, by the way) instead of pushing for something he believes in. And quite frankly, admitting that he made a mistake so close to the vote shows that he either had no courage or no foresight as to just how big of an issue this really is. Apologies are nice, but that does little when it comes to what he could have done as, you know, a leader.
While it is nice to call a supposed leader out on this lack of leadership, there are other things that can be done. On the "low impact" side, there is a Facebook group calling Senator Sweeney out for his lack of conviction. However, a state that is as progressive as New Jersey deserves a progressive leader in the Democratic Party. And it is important to note that there only need to be three Democratic Senators to abstain or vote against Sweeney for Senate President in order to throw a wrench into Sweeney's hostile takeover of the Senate Presidency.
That being said, can we identify three Senators (Sens. Weinberg and Codey come to mind) and see what can be done?
This is about Democratic leadership on Democratic issues in a Democratic State. And Senator Sweeney has already failed that test on all levels.
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