On Same-Sex Marriage Vote-Count, Take the Under

Not that anyone really expected Eliot Spitzer's same-sex marriage proposal to succeed anytime soon, but just days after its introduction, both sides of the legislature are talking about passage in purely academic terms.

As I noted earlier, the plan to legalize same-sex marriage is premised on the notion that it can pass the Assembly, thereby compelling the Senate take action one way or the other.

For now, the Republican-led Senate seems perfectly happy to wait.

"We can’t speculate until they do that," said Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno's spokeswoman, Lisa Black, referring to passing gay marriage in the Assembly. "And it’s never been done before. They say they have 60 and they still need 20 more. They’re not going to shame upstate Republicans. It’s not going to help their constituency."

Pro-gay marriage Democrats in the Assembly don't necessarily disagree.

On the prospect of getting enough votes to pass the bill through the 150-member Assembly, Deborah Glick predicted that it would be tricky to get enough Democrats to line up for it if there were any chance that it would actually pass.

"Nobody wants to be the 76 or 77th vote," she said.

Also, unrelatedly, tonight is a mock session for Assembly interns. Maybe they'll think of a way to break the deadlock.