Pat Brady lobbies for marriage equality

Timothy Kincaid

January 2nd, 2013

The effort to pass marriage equality in Illinois has a valuable new ally, Pat Brady. He has pulled out his phone and started calling legislators to encourage support for the bill.

Though you probably haven’t heard of Brady, he has a rolodex to envy. It’s not from his years with high power law and accounting firms, nor his work with the state attorney’s office or the Department of Justice.

No, Pat Brady has the ear of a number of legislators in the state for another reason. He’s the Chairman of the Illinois Republican Party. (Daily Herald)

Brady said he was making the calls as a citizen, outside of his official role with the Illinois Republican Party.

“I think it’s time for people to support this,” Brady said.

2013 is already turning out to be very interesting.

UPDATE: Brady’s efforts are extremely important, as vote count by conservative site Illinois Review suggest that the bill cannot pass without some Republican support. The sponsor of the bill, Senator Heather Steans, says she has the votes, “if everyone shows up”.

Ben In Oakland

January 2nd, 2013

Is this a sincere belief, or a sincere belief no longer modified by the perceived political landscape, or merely a nicer version of Newt holding a smelly finger up to the political wind in order to decide which way it’s blowing?

I don’t know the man, and I’m only curious for my own reasons. But it’s welcome in any case.

Timothy Kincaid

January 2nd, 2013

Maybe it’s a very sincere belief that this move is necessary for the party to survive, and there’s nothing more sincere to a politician than continued power.

But as you say, it’s welcome in any case.

TampaZeke

January 2nd, 2013

Kudos!

Hunter

January 3rd, 2013

The Republican party in Illinois, after a period of being dominated by scary screwballs, seems to have gone back to its moderate roots. Remember, this is the Republican party of Jim Thompson, Charles Percy, and even Mark Kirk, who’s definitely not part of the Tea Party (although he started off badly).

So a move like this is encouraging, but not really all that surprising.

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