And then there were eight...

I feel at this point that like we're counting down to midnight.  Less than a week ago, there were ten senators that we were guessing would be the next to make a stand for marriage equality.  Since then, Kay Hagan has stood tall for civil rights, and now we have Sen. Bob Casey, Jr. (D-PA) joining her.  Sen. Casey announced his support today, and while I speculated initially that he might be a tacit supporter of the gay marriage cause, he appears to be fully on-board, making it just eight Democrats remaining (and, for the record, 44 Republicans-just saying).  While you shouldn't get your hopes up for a fully supportive caucus (Sens. Johnson, Pryor, and Manchin all seem like permanent hold-outs), there's another even more vital goal to look toward.

With Sen. Casey's support, this now brings the total number of senators who support gay marriage up to 48.  While I doubt that they will introduce a bill through the Senate at this time (it seems unlikely given the House is far from supportive, with less than 200 members endorsing at last count), it would send a message across the country if both the White House and the Senate were in favor of marriage equality.  Keep an eye on Tom Carper of Delaware, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Susan Collins of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska in the upcoming week, as they're quite possibly the most likely to turn (the latter two are, yes, Republicans, but very sound, moderate-minded ones).  It'll be interesting to see who, if anyone, makes it fifty!