by Robert in Monterey [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[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 California Progress Report]

By Bill Cavala
A veteran of over 30 years in Sacramento

The U.S. Supreme Court in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board yesterday validated the Indiana requirement that voters display “photo I.D’s” before they can exercise their right to vote. Those without such ID’s (primarily the old and poor) would have to buy one to vote – violating a prior Court’s ruling against the imposition of “poll taxes”.

This Court chose to ignore that line of precedents, relying instead on the interest a state might have in protecting the “integrity” of the voting process.

Even if that “integrity” has not been threatened.

A U.S. Commission that studied polling place vote fraud uncovered 24 cases - in the entire country – over a four year span.

Here in California, a report issued by Bill Jones “Vote Fraud” unit in the Secretary of State’s office identified fewer than a dozen instances in the decade prior to the Commission’s study. All of those instances involved small towns with tiny electorates where a couple of votes could affect outcomes.

None of them involved “immigrants” or “illegal immigrants” voting or attempting to vote.

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Bill Cavala
A veteran of over 30 years in Sacramento

Since the 1980’s, initiative campaigns have been big business. Where once initiatives were few and far between because of the difficulty of signature gathering (a large grass roots movement was usually required), now signature-gathering firms were formed to qualify petitions for money.

The people were hired under the fiction of “independent contractors” so that the firms would not have to pay social security or workers compensation benefits (as required by law for employers). They were not paid a “wage” – which might have made them employees – but instead paid on a ‘bounty’ basis: so much per signature.

People employed in this business would come and go. But the local “contractors” who worked for the parent firms would have a network of people interested in work of this sort. Those who were successful were those who could talk people into signing petitions. The most successful had the skills of carnival con men.

Voters are routinely conned into signing petitions for ballot measures they might well oppose if they knew its real purpose. But they are provided information designed to get them to sign, not to inform them. If you sign this, the “people will get to decide”, and so on.

by Robert in Monterey [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

I just overheard a conversation with Leno folks and Marriott staff. They're being kicked out of the hotel, where a fair share of delegates are lingering about. The Marriott is directly connected to the convention center, and a number of convention events are in the hotel, but the property is obviously private. Nevertheless, I've been observing the signature gathering process, and my gut call is that they will probably have the 300 signatures they need to bring the endorsement vote to the general assembly tomorrow. Leno volunteers are going bar to bar as far away as San Jose City Hall, and one Leno volunteer I talked to said he had already been in dozens of bars.