Analysis: Same-sex marriage opinion was politics unusual in Maryland

Today's Washington Post has an interesting analysis by Aaron C. Davis. He describes how last week's decision by Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler to recognize out-of-state gay marriages goes against powerful conservative Democrats in the state legislature. Our friend Dana Beyer, a candidate for state delegate in Maryland's 18th District, comments:

This piece clearly explains how Maryland, a center-left state, is crippled by conservative Democratic leadership. This has to stop, if our state is going to prosper, and the only way to change that leadership is to elect real progressives with the courage to inspire and mobilize that progressive majority to get the job done. A progressive legislature will elect progressive leadership, and then the default solution to our problems will be progressive - not conservative, not reactionary, not theological. For example, progressive taxation and combined reporting as part of the solution to our budget crisis, not slots. Delegate Burns is so wrong - it is moral to care for your neighbors, to protect the vulnerable, to give everyone a fair chance - not to fall back on parochial religious beliefs which promote intolerance.

(Photo of Douglas Gansler by Alfredo Duarte Pereira/el Tiempo Latino)