David Paterson probably won't be governor of New York in 2011. He's deeply unpopular. But that hasn't stopped him from pushing for progressive goals even in the face of massive disapproval ratings. Earlier this year he presided over the most comprehensive overhaul of the draconian Rockefeller Drug laws we've seen yet.The reforms stop short of full repeal, but they still make significant changes to the way New York deals with drug crimes. The Rockefeller reforms represented the achievement of a longtime goal for Paterson, who has vowed for years to change them.
Now he's set his sights on gay marriage. While Paterson's measure passed the State Assembly easily, the Democrats' majority in the State Senate is razor thin so the fate of marriage equality still remains uncertain. At the same time, Paterson faced this same political dynamic earlier in the year in attempting to reform the Rockefeller laws, so he probably has a better than even chance of providing marriage rights to same-sex couples in New York state.
All of which leads to a pretty interesting situation: everyone hates Paterson, but if he leaves office having successfully reformed the state's drug laws and ushered in marriage rights for same-sex couples, he will have achieved two really important, long sought after progressive goals.
-- A. Serwer
