Equality California, the organization that spearheaded the battle against Proposition 8 in the November 2008 election, announced Wednesday that it will wait until the next presidential election to bring the issue of marriage equality back to the ballot.
Marc Solomon, EQCA's marriage director, said that after evaluating several options and consulting with the top 100 donors from the 2008 campaign, the organization will continue a localized, three-year education campaign for the 2012 election.
EQCA's campaign began in May 2009, following the passage of Proposition 8, which repealed same-sex marriage rights after just five months of marriage equality in the state. Since the launch of the campaign, Solomon said, nine new offices have been opened throughout the state, housing 18 field organizers and 16,000 new volunteers who have already knocked on half a million doors to start conversations to change the hearts and minds of those who voted for the repeal.
The announcement came less than an hour after the Courage Campaign, another activist organization, announced that it will move forward on a 2010 ballot initiative. On Tuesday, Courage Campaign chair Rick Jacobs asked members to raise $42,000 within 60 hours to help decide the timing of the measure. As of Wednesday morning, the organization reported that it had received donations totaling $77,905 within just 24 hours, raising their total amount available for research, polling, and focus groups to $135,998.
EQCA says that the effort is notable and that it will support the other group's push for the 2010 ballot measure, but EQCA will continue to forge ahead on a 2012 ballot measure because, the group maintains, more California voters will support marriage equality by then.
"It's extremely hard to win a campaign like this," Solomon said. "It's a $40 million to $60 million venture. It's moving people who just voted on this less than a year ago. It would be really irresponsible to say to a group or an organization that we're going to contribute dollars even though we don't think this is the smarter approach."
Andrea Shorter, the organization's deputy marriage and coalitions director, also said that a 2010 ballot measure may be too soon to garner financial and grassroots support for those in disadvantaged communities and those hit harder by the recession. Solomon also suggested that current teenagers, who are more likely to support marriage equality as well as participate in presidential elections, would then be eligible to vote. While that bump in the electorate may be small, Solomon said, "In a situation where the numbers are so close, it's a meaningful difference, without question."
10 News San Diego had its money on 2012: "Sources tell 10News the leaders of the group are leaning toward 2012. 'I'm not surprised,' said Mesa College political science professor, Carl Luna. He said he shares the opinion offered by a team of consultants brought in by 'Equality California.’ 2012, they said, would give same-sex marriage supporters more time to outreach to minority communities who supported Prop 8. They would also gain more time to raise money and have better demographics during a presidential election. 'In 2012, you get younger voters. They tend to be disproportionately in favor of gay marriage, and that could be the difference in a close election of overturning Prop 8,' Luna said."
The SF Chronicle reports: "On Thursday, the 700,000-member liberal online hub Courage Campaign, whose members advocate a 2010 run, will say whether a $200,000 challenge grant it issued for preliminary campaign work was met. If it wasn't, then as Courage Campaign founder Rick Jacobs wrote to supporters, 'We will have to accept that our movement is not ready to repeal Prop. 8 in 2010.'"
According to the Chronicle, "The secretary of state's office suggests that ballot measures be submitted to the attorney general's office by Sept. 25 to qualify for the November 2010 ballot. Organizers need to gather 1 million signatures to sift out 694,354 valid ones."
No comments:
Post a Comment