Pitching G.O.P. on Gay Marriage Bill, Baldwin Leaves Nothing to Chance
nytimes.comWASHINGTON — Senator Tammy Baldwin, the soft-spoken liberal Democrat of Wisconsin, was on a plane home from Washington last month when she got word that Senator Ron Johnson, her home-state colleague and a stridently hard-right Republican, had said publicly that he would not oppose a bill protecting same-sex marriage rights.
Seizing a rare moment in which she and Mr. Johnson — polar opposites by any measure — might agree on something, Ms. Baldwin tapped out a text to him saying she was thrilled. “Don’t let them add anything obnoxious to it,” Mr.
Johnson responded. “I said I would do nothing to jeopardize its chances of passing,” Ms. Baldwin said in an interview in her Senate hideaway last week. “But we may differ on what constitutes ‘obnoxious.’” Mr.
Johnson replied with a thumbs-up emoji and wished her a pleasant weekend. Ms. Baldwin, 60, who in 1999 became the first openly gay woman elected to Congress, has helmed the effort to win over the 10 Republican senators whose backing is necessary to secure passage of the Respect for Marriage Act, which would provide federal protections for same-sex marriage rights at a time of rising fears that they are at risk.
