* Gay marriage proponents have known for months that they had big problems with the House Black Caucus. The proponents have several Statehouse lobbyists on the payroll, including two affiliated with the House Republicans who have produced just two votes so far. But until yesterday, they had just one black lobbyist, and he’s a former Senate Democratic staffer.

Yesterday afternoon, a day before the scheduled end of session, two former African-American House members were finally put on the lobbying payroll…

Veteran lobbyists Paul Williams and Coy Pugh, both African-Americans and ex-Democratic lawmakers from Chicago, have been hired by advocates backing the marriage equality bid to persuade House Black Caucus hold outs to vote for the bill sponsored by State Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago).

I’m not sure what two guys can do in a day and a half. I talked to one of them yesterday, and he’s not sure what he can do, either. This sort of stuff takes time. And it’s truly amazing to me that it took the proponents this long to realize what they were missing at the Capitol.

There is a lot of finger-pointing going on right now about what should’ve happened. Maybe the Senate shouldn’t have passed the bill in February, before the votes were lined up in the House. But that sort of stuff is easy to see in hindsight. The lack of House-affiliated African-American lobsters, however, should never have been overlooked.

Even so, there’s no guarantee that the bill will fail today. If it’s not called for a vote, the recriminations will no doubt begin in earnest. Speaker Madigan will undoubtedly be in for some blame. But the proponents will also need to reexamine what they did.

* Meanwhile, competing Statehouse rallies are planned for today. From the Illinois Family Institute…

Lawmakers will be in Springfield one more day before they adjourn for the summer. Homosexual activists are pushing hard for a vote on SB 10, the same-sex “marriage” bill. They are planning a rally at the State House tomorrow at 11 a.m.

We need you to join us to make a strong showing for natural marriage. If you are at all able to join us tomorrow morning at the Illinois State Capitol, please do so. We will meet in the Rotunda at 10 a.m.

* And this is from Lambda Legal, ACLU of Illinois and Equality Illinois…

URGENT: Meet at the Equality Illinois office (3318 N Halsted) in Chicago tomorrow (Friday) morning at 7:30 for free buses to our marriage equality rally in Springfield!

Just a few hours ago, we emailed with an urgent message to call Speaker Madigan and ask him to schedule a vote on the marriage bill now.

Hundreds of calls have come into Springfield, but no vote has been scheduled. So here’s what’s next:

We need you to join us for an urgent rally at the State House in Springfield tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. Together, we’ll show the Speaker — and all our representatives — that we want a vote taken on the marriage equality bill before the House adjourns at the end of the day tomorrow.

The groups have a Facebook events page as well.

* No way this is happening…

As advocates and observers continue to wonder when the marriage legislation will come up for vote, and as House lawmakers remain in session to deliberate other bills, proponents of the marriage equality measure are calling Madigan’s Capitol and district offices to demand a vote before it’s too late. […]

Many of those callers were reportedly told by Madigan aides the bill will be considered on Friday; however, when pressed, Madigan Press Secretary Steve Brown denied the alleged messaging, noting, “The people who answer the phones don’t say things like that.”

Brown is right. They don’t tell people that sort of thing on the phone in Madigan’s office. First, the people who answer the phones wouldn’t know, and secondly they’d probably lose their jobs if they did say stuff like that.

There were tons of Statehouse rumors yesterday and it was almost impossible to keep up with them. Most of them were false.

* I’m told by the proponents that CNN is considering doing a live feed from the House during the debate, if it happens. There will be lots of attention on Illinois today. A press conference yesterday which announced basically nothing was mobbed by reporters.

* Things are also heating up on the Republican side of the equation. From Illinois Review…

Last night U.S. Senator Mark Kirk was on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight with Carol Marin. One of the topics covered was the resignation of Party Chairman Pat Brady. The discussion went like this: (see video below at 4:26 minutes)

Carol Marin: Has this [same-sex marriage] become sort of a fire line of this, “Who’s a conservative and who’s not?”

Sen. Kirk: Actually, I didn’t want the Republican Party to be run by the top anti-gay bigot in the state.

Marin: When you say the top Republican bigot, you mean Jim Oberweis?

Kirk: No

Marin: Who do you mean?

Kirk refused to answer and moved the discussion to Apple and immigration.

* Video…

* But Speaker Madigan is clearly becoming a target of the left. Via IR…

“@tonymerevick: Oh, and um, this meme is getting posted all over. What do you think? #SB10 #twill twitter.com/tonymerevick/s…” @lisaforil #il4m

— Sam (@smalone2283) May 31, 2013