Fast-tracked as the first item of business:
This afternoon in Trenton, legislative leaders and marriage advocates announced that the introduction and passage of a marriage bill will be a top priority during the upcoming legislative session. The bill has full support of the legislature's most influential members and figures, including Senate President Steve Sweeney, incoming Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, incoming Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald, and state Democratic Chairman Assemblyman John Wisniewski. A bill to extend marriage to gay and lesbian couples will be the first legislation introduced in both chambers.
Timothy Kincaid wonders if Chris Christie, who supports civil unions, will suffer politically for opposing marriage equality:
We see how anti-gay positions have destroyed a few campaigns already. And it is not Romney’s kinda-sorta gay tolerance that has become an albatross as right-wingers predicted, but Santorum’s views that have dogged his steps and defined his candidacy. Now we will soon learn in New Jersey whether marriage equality has become so socially accepted that civil unions support is a position that can hurt a politician.
The Dish 