So Malcolm Smith will be the first Democratic Senate Majority leader in 43 years.

After a Democratic conference meeting last night, that was the consensus. Smith and the so-called Gang of Three hammered out an agreement, and the rest of the Democrats back him. All that's left is a vote on the full Senate, which happens today.

If all goes according to plans, that will be the end of the will-he-or-won't-he speculation of the past two months, 

The question is, what did Smith and his colleagues give up in order to make this deal happen? Sure, the three Senators - Ruben Diaz, Carl Kruger, and Pedro Espada -get nice committee chair jobs and leadership positions. But there were other issues on the table.

Same-sex marriage was a sticking point - Diaz said he wouldn't support a majority leader who would bring the issue to the floor. But during a press conference yesterday, Smith said the topic didn't come up during negotiations. Instead, they focused on things like committee assignments and rules reform.

It'll be interesting to watch the new majority at work. Only time will tell whether intra-party squabbling sinks the new majority, or if the conference members will band together and move forward on important issues.