New York politics took a significant turn to the left on Friday, June 24, in the decision to legalize gay marriage. The legislation went down to the wire when four Republicans eventually swung toward a final vote of 33-29 in favor of the proposal.
A week and a half before the vote took place, Senator Roy McDonald, representing a district where many of his supporters are so far right they hesitate when making a left turn, announced he was voting for gay marriage. And he did it with his own kind of McDonald flair.
Regarding his decision, McDonald told reporters, "You might not like that. You might be very cynical about that. Well, [f-word] it, I don't care what you think. I'm trying to do the right thing.” He continued, "I'm tired of Republican-Democrat politics. They can take the job and shove it. I come from a blue-collar background. I'm trying to do the right thing, and that's where I'm going with this."
My first reaction to this was, “Thank God someone said it.” It was refreshing to hear a bold conservative politician who is not carefully and timidly constructing his stance in fear of being ridiculed by his own party for having a differing opinion. People are going to be against what he does whether he uses an expletive or not.
The legislation was strongly opposed by the state’s conservative party, whose chairman, Michael Long, has said it will not endorse any Republican who votes for same-sex marriage. Republicans hold a slim 32-to-30 majority in the Senate, and rely on this support to win in many swing districts.
It’s admirable when politicians, such as McDonald, look past the black and white of partisan politics because there is such an intolerance within the parties that fosters narrow ideas of equality and fairness. Considering the punitive measures taken (as demonstrated by Long), it takes courage to express something that will potentially upset the constituency and elicit severe disapproval.
A computer science junior at ASU, who wished to remain anonymous, explained, “I'm quite conservative and I often side with Republicans on most issues. However, the reasons why I am conservative, honestly, have nothing to do with this [social] issue. If anything, I think this would be a religion vs. non-religion issue, not a political party issue. I wish more people would have the guts to do what [McDonald] did.”
Many young conservatives voice similar sentiments. Our generation’s version of conservatism has gradually evolved to accept a somewhat indifferent attitude towards the social issues that Republicans have so fiercely contested in the past (abortion, homosexuality, etc).
I do understand it is delicate for a politician to disagree with his party’s views. Politicians are elected because they give their supporters the impression that they hold the people’s beliefs and will represent those views. However, we also need politicians who are independent thinkers and are able to assess the present situation. It would be debilitating to have representatives who were stagnant in thought and action.
Our society cannot progress if its citizens keep the divisive idea of ‘this is what Republicans think and this is what Democrats think.’ Representatives need to focus on making thoughtful decisions by considering the American people as a whole.
We pigeonhole our representatives by expecting them to obey their party’s common views, but hopefully, constituencies consist of people who esteem fairness more than partisanship and politicians who think farther ahead than their next re-election.
Reach the columnist at mgrichar@asu.edu
