Did Senator Ball pwn Twitter?
Did New York Republican Senator Greg Ball send his tweet flirting with supporting same-sex marriage because he knew it would get him loads of attention, get his name out, and raise campaign cash?
New York’s same-sex marriage equality battle reached a fever pitch Friday — or so everyone thought. And everyone thought there would be a cooling off period over the weekend, until the Republican Senator most-​vocal on the religious exemptions issue opened the door slightly, via Twitter. But did he slam the door Monday?
Senator Greg Ball, who last Wednesday stated emphatically, “At this point, on this bill, I would absolutely vote no,†around 10:30 PM Friday night tweeted, “Opening up the discussion! So, if you were me, how would you vote on gay marriage? Yes or No?â€
Ball’s consistent complaint is that he believes Governor Cuomo’s marriage equality bill does not protect religious institutions and individuals sufficiently from prosecution for discrimination, despite the fact that 700 faith leaders got together to publicly state the bill’s religious protections are sufficient. And Friday afternoon, Governor Cuomo said he was open to discussion.
Ball’s tweet was immediately picked up by a few media outlets, including The New Civil Rights Movement, and soon literally ten to twenty tweets a minute flooded Twitter. Also, literally, the tweets were 99.9% in support of marriage equality. By the end of the weekend, at minimum, tens of thousands of tweets in favor of marriage equality made their way to the Senator’s Twitter stream.
So, having opened the door, and being stampeeded, is it possible there is any way for Senator Ball to close it?
Yes.
Azi Paybarah, a reporter for The New York Observer, Monday around noon wrote, via Twitter, “GOP State Senator @ball4ny told me responses he got to marriage survey were about ‘a thousand to one’ but were coming from outside his dstrt.”
What had he expected? He didn’t say, “Tweet me, but include your ZIP code!”
Senator Ball, who hired a camera crew to follow him around the Capitol last week, has a reputation for being a publicity hound.
And there’s more. On Friday, Ball’s website didn’t have a video recorded Wednesday that shows Ball coming out against marriage equality. At some point between Friday night and today, along with a “Donate” button, the video is on the front of Ball’s website. Did Ball pwn us? Did Senator Ball send his tweet flirting with supporting same-sex marriage because he knew it would get him loads of attention, get his name out, and raise campaign cash?
Of course, Ball still has the chance to do the right thing and stand up for civil marriage equality. We’re hopeful he will.
But we have to ask, in light of that statement, and the change to his website, did Senator Ball pwn America?