[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

It will be a kindler, gentler campaign to ban gay marriage, Frank Schubert, who will manage the effort to approve the initiative, told a meeting of the American Association of Political Consultants in Sacramento on Monday.
 
Predicting it will rival the presidential race for attention, Schubert said he will run a "positive, uplifting campaign."
 
"There will not be any gay bashing in our campaign," he said. "If other supporters try it, we will do everything we can to stop it."
 
Schubert noted that more than 500,000 signatures were gathered by 27,000 volunteers (not paid signature gatherers) and he expects a coalition of 100,000 supporters at the state, regional, and local level to organize to promote it. Although he wouldn't put a dollar figure on the race, he expected significant sums to be spent on both sides, with much of it coming from online sources.
 
The GOP consultant said about one-third of the electorate is up for grabs on the initiative, and his side will run a focused campaign focusing on messages to reach this group. Although he wouldn't get into specifics, he noted that "every culture in the history of mankind has recognized it (marriage) as between a man and a woman."
 

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

California Republicans: put a fork in it.
 
That's the word from respected Republican consultant Frank Schubert of Schubert Flint Public Affairs, speaking before a meeting of the American Association of Political Consultants in Sacramento earlier today
 
Schubert made the remarks when asked about the impact of the presidential race on the gay marriage initiative on this November's ballot. He said since the presidential race was "potentially over" in California already, so the battle over the initiative would stand on its own.
 
So much for California being in play for McCain.

by Be_Devine [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Mark Leno finished the night with an incredibly strong showing.  With 100% of the precincts now reporting, Mark Leno won the election with 43 percent of the vote.  Joe Nation had 29 percent and the incumbent, Carole Migden, had 27 percent.

Congratulations, Mark, on a campaign that was both well fought and very well received.

At his victory party last night, Mark Leno spoke directly to the divide that this primary contest has created in the progressive community and in the LGBT community.  He called on all of us to put this primary behind us and come together in unity to begin to fight the heinous anti-marriage initiative that is on the ballot in November.  And he is right.  If we (meaning both Mark's supporters and Carole's supporters) can keep the momentum and harness the passion that has been poured into this race from both sides and apply that to fighting this discriminatory initiative, we will certainly prevail in November.  

I hope Senator Migden joins Mark's call for uniting together as a community for this important goal.

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

by California Democratic Party [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Larry Handerhan is an employee of the California Democratic Party who runs Chairman Art Torres's San Francisco office. This weekend, he and some friends decided that it was time to take the fight for equality to Sacramento. Larry wanted to share his experiences from the weekend, and we thought the folks at Calitics would be interested.

By Monday, April 21st, organizers of a discriminatory anti-marriage initiative must submit enough valid signatures to qualify for the November ballot. By most reports, they are within reach of that goal.

That was sufficient motivation for me and three fellow members of the San Francisco based Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club to brave I-80 early Saturday morning and join Equality for All's "Decline to Sign" Campaign in Sacramento.

L to R: Larry and his friends, David, Jason and Cecilia

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Lloyd Levine
Member
California State Assembly

It’s becoming predictable every election season. California’s anti-gay groups are attempting to put a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage on the November ballot. They presume Californians will agree with them and flock to the polls, erasing years of progress.

My hope is this November California voters will be galvanized and electrified by a sense of hope for the future, not limiting it. That’s why I am STRONGLY supporting the “Decline to Sign” campaign fighting to keep the same-sex marriage initiative off the ballot. Whether or not they succeed, California voters will be put on notice that this potential ban would write discrimination into the state’s Constitution.

It’s certainly not lost on most voters that the anti-gay marriage initiative is also a shameless tactic used by Republicans before to get voters to the polls. Recently, Arizona voters saw they were being played for fools by the Republicans and defeated a similar same-sex marriage ban.

The proposed constitutional amendment specifies that only marriage between a man and a woman be valid or recognized in California. The arguments by anti-gay groups are glaringly weak.