Daniel O'Donnell

The Assembly will debate a gay marriage bill today, according to the bill's prime sponsor, Danny O'Donnell of Manhattan.

"That's right," he told me. "I'm a little nervous."

He said that the bill was reported out of the judiciary committee yesterday "with no negative votes by the Democrats," but he stopped short of making any predictions about its fate.

It should be said that the mere fact that the Assembly is having this debate is historic, and it certainly has the potential -- depending on how things go -- to become national news.

They Assembly is in session now, and the debate is expected later today. You can watch the session live here.

Now that Eliot Spitzer has made his initial push for same-sex marriage, the next logical step would seem to be for him to begin lobbying Democrats in the legislature to get on board. Interestingly, there is little expectation among even the most fervent supporters of a gay marriage bill that he's going to do so anytime soon.

“This is not something he’s primarily focused on, and he’s made that clear,” Assemblywoman Deborah Glick told me for a piece in this week's Observer.

Not that the governor's help isn't wanted. The bill’s prime sponsor in the Assembly, Danny O’Donnell, thinks a kinder, softer Spitzer can actually help the bill pass the house.

“I would say that he is much more effective when he asks people to do things than when he tries to tell them to do things,” he said. “And when he asks, he can be very effective."

More from the story here.