Stand your ground, Governor: Veto it

By Sen. Jeb Bradley For the Monitor
May 02, 2009 - 12:00 am

http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/20090502/OPINION/905020312&commentsubmitted=2   

The following is an excerpt from a newsletter by newly elected state Sen. Jeb Bradley for his constituents:

Same-sex marriage proved to be Wednesday's most controversial debate, and it survived despite several twists and turns. With 24 members, New Hampshire has the smallest state Senate in the United States. Therefore, observers closely track the positions each individual senator commits to. Going into the debate on same-sex marriage, all 10 Republicans, myself included, committed to oppose passage as did two Democrats. Twelve "No" votes means a tie and failure of legislation.

But a last-minute amendment was secretly circulated by Democrats and, according to observers, was intensely lobbied for by the chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party. Suddenly this secret amendment was cast as a compromise, even though it unilaterally allows same sex-marriage. As a result, one of the two Democrats committed to oppose same-sex marriage recanted, and the 13th vote for passage materialized.