ALBANY — Despite weeks of turmoil, political threats and at times heart-rending and highly emotional debate, it turned out to be far easier than anyone had thought.
Gov. Cuomo was able to deliver on his pledge to legalize gay marriage because public sentiment had shifted so dramatically and so fast in recent years that opposition forces found themselves unexpectedly disorganized, outmaneuvered and without effective leadership.
There was pushback, of course, from the Catholic Church and other religious denominations, and opposition from many Republican lawmakers and the Conservative Party.
But the ragtag opposition wasn’t nearly as effective as a cash-fueled army of a pro-gay-marriage lobbyists, public-relations specialists and professional activists who descended on the Capitol, as anyone who spent time in its marble halls in recent weeks could see.
What’s more, early on, the governor realized opposition from the Senate’s majority Republicans was itself surprisingly soft.
And private polling by Cuomo’s supporters as well as a string of public polls also confirmed the sweeping change.
Four years ago, a poll from Siena College — a Catholic-affiliated institution near Albany — found New Yorkers opposed to same-sex marriage by 47-43 percent.
A Siena poll in April showed a lopsided reversal, 58 percent in favor and just 36 percent opposed.