Lame-Duck Legalization of Gay Marriage in New Jersey?

Paul Muschine of the Star-Ledger reports on some back-room backbiting going on in the State House in Trenton, as a chickensh*t Governor Corzine strikes a deal for the lame-duck legislature to pass a bill legalizing gay marriage in New Jersey:

A group of conservative Republican legislators held a press conference at the Statehouse to make public an allegation that the Democrats are planning a move to legalize same-sex marriage in the lame-duck session after the election. State Sen. Gerry Cardinale of Bergen County said he had heard a conversation between key Democrats in which the deal was made.

"I was in the room when a key chairman promised the governor’s office that he would put it up, but that he wouldn’t do it until the lame-duck session after the election and the governor’s office said, ‘That’s fine,’" said Cardinale.

So New Jersey Democrats plan on changing the definition of marriage by ramming a bill trough what will be - at that point - an unelected legislature? Despite a Corzine "promise" to put it on the ballot for all New Jersey residents to decide ?

Sound unbelievable? Then you haven't been paying attention to the way New Jersey politics works.

Why would Corzine, a proud "progressive", refuse to stand by his gay friends during the campaign? Because, like most liberals, he's more concerned about keeping power than speaking truth (his truth, at least) to it:

Corzine is counting on a heavy African-American vote, and as that referendum on same-sex marriage in California last year showed, black voters tend to be socially conservative on the matter. A key reason for the California measure’s failure was the large black turnout for Barack Obama.

So Corzine's is going to use black voters to get him re-elected, while working behind their backs to double-cross them on matters that are socially significant to them. Maybe Chris Christie should be less nervous about his conservative heritage and state clearly his opposition to gay marriage, and his disgust at the backhanded means that Corzine intends to use to force it upon New Jersey.

He might be surprised by the response he gets in a state where the deep blue is - ever so slightly - starting to look a tad faded...