Attorney General Eliot Spitzer says politics didn't influence his opinion on the legality of gay marriage in New York.
Others say Spitzer had to walk a fine line in order to keep himself from being hurt politically. The Democratic attorney general has his sights set firmly on running for governor in 2006.
Spitzer said Wednesday that gay marriage isn't legal in New York State. But he quickly added that he'd like it made legal.
Veteran Democratic operative Hank Sheinkopf says Spitzer's response was a win-win situation -- because he came down right in the middle.
Republicans scoffed that Spitzer was trying to have it both ways.
Spitzer gave the opinion that local clerks, on the basis of current state law, should not issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and that local officials shouldn't marry them.
However, Spitzer also said that any New York law not allowing gay marriage might violate the "equal protection" clause of the state constitution. In addition, he said that under current New York law, the state should recognize gay marriages and civil unions legally performed outside the state.