Under the bright lights of Russell Sage College in Troy, New York, only a few days before the September 2012 Republican primary, State Senator Roy McDonald was clearly exasperated. Despite his attempts to focus the debate on chronic unemployment, his opponent Kathleen A. Marchione had another agenda. Over the roar of the restless crowd,
Marchione persistently questioned McDonald about his controversial vote in favor of the
Marriage Equality Act in June 2011. In rebuttal to Marchione’s accusations that his vote to legalize same-sex marriage was motivated by the promise of campaign donations,
McDonald explained that he broke from traditional Republican values because he was a
“human being that care[d]” and “could have found an easier way to get …show more content…
In fact, the county budget he proposed made
Saratoga the lowest taxed county in New York State. After building a reputation of reliability and traditionalism in Saratoga, McDonald moved on to state politics with his
2013 Winning Essay: John F. Kennedy
Profile in Courage Essay Contest for High School Students election to the state senate in 2008 (“Roy”). As John F. Kennedy asserts in Profiles in
Courage, one’s courageous potential is “an opportunity that sooner or later is presented to us all” (Kennedy 225). The Marriage Equality Act presented McDonald the opportunity to elevate himself from a forgettable official to a bold nonconformist.
McDonald’s role in the passage of the Marriage Equality Act was groundbreaking.
The New York State legislature was the first chamber with a Republican majority to approve same-sex marriage (Kaplan, “Results for G.O.P.”). McDonald was one of only four
Republican senators who voted for the Marriage Equality Act, making New York the sixth state to allow same-sex marriage. Affecting more than 42,000 same-sex couples …show more content…
In the words of Kennedy,
McDonald was more than a “robot dutifully recording the views of constituents” or a “timeserver skilled only in predicting and following the tides of public sentiment” (Kennedy 18).
He switched his position on same-sex marriage to protect the equality and dignity of the greater public; for this act, his reputation among his conservative constituents was irreversibly damaged.
McDonald’s leap of faith in June 2011 came at a steep price. Although his vote in favor of same-sex marriage cost him his reelection to the state senate, it was a worthy sacrifice. In the words of Mayor Bloomberg, McDonald walked away from the state senate with the “satisfaction of knowing for the rest of [his] life [he] stood up and voted [his] conscience” (Kaplan and Grynbaum). McDonald reaffirmed America’s “faith that the people will not simply elect men who will represent their views ably and faithfully, but also elect men who will exercise their conscientious judgment” (Kennedy 223). During his first and last term in the state senate, McDonald achieved a feat most politicians do not accomplish in a lifetime—he embodied true
Marchione persistently questioned McDonald about his controversial vote in favor of the
Marriage Equality Act in June 2011. In rebuttal to Marchione’s accusations that his vote to legalize same-sex marriage was motivated by the promise of campaign donations,
McDonald explained that he broke from traditional Republican values because he was a
“human being that care[d]” and “could have found an easier way to get …show more content…
In fact, the county budget he proposed made
Saratoga the lowest taxed county in New York State. After building a reputation of reliability and traditionalism in Saratoga, McDonald moved on to state politics with his
2013 Winning Essay: John F. Kennedy
Profile in Courage Essay Contest for High School Students election to the state senate in 2008 (“Roy”). As John F. Kennedy asserts in Profiles in
Courage, one’s courageous potential is “an opportunity that sooner or later is presented to us all” (Kennedy 225). The Marriage Equality Act presented McDonald the opportunity to elevate himself from a forgettable official to a bold nonconformist.
McDonald’s role in the passage of the Marriage Equality Act was groundbreaking.
The New York State legislature was the first chamber with a Republican majority to approve same-sex marriage (Kaplan, “Results for G.O.P.”). McDonald was one of only four
Republican senators who voted for the Marriage Equality Act, making New York the sixth state to allow same-sex marriage. Affecting more than 42,000 same-sex couples …show more content…
In the words of Kennedy,
McDonald was more than a “robot dutifully recording the views of constituents” or a “timeserver skilled only in predicting and following the tides of public sentiment” (Kennedy 18).
He switched his position on same-sex marriage to protect the equality and dignity of the greater public; for this act, his reputation among his conservative constituents was irreversibly damaged.
McDonald’s leap of faith in June 2011 came at a steep price. Although his vote in favor of same-sex marriage cost him his reelection to the state senate, it was a worthy sacrifice. In the words of Mayor Bloomberg, McDonald walked away from the state senate with the “satisfaction of knowing for the rest of [his] life [he] stood up and voted [his] conscience” (Kaplan and Grynbaum). McDonald reaffirmed America’s “faith that the people will not simply elect men who will represent their views ably and faithfully, but also elect men who will exercise their conscientious judgment” (Kennedy 223). During his first and last term in the state senate, McDonald achieved a feat most politicians do not accomplish in a lifetime—he embodied true