(no subject)

[hatman]

In non-comics news... there have been huge protests since Prop 8 passed in California (banning gay marriage, in case you hadn't heard). There's been media coverage and information going around. And, a week or so after it passed, enough voters realized they'd been duped by the massive ad campaign (backed notably by the Mormon Church) to make the difference... if the vote had been held last week, Prop 8 wouldn't have been passed.

On the one hand, that's great. On the other hand... why couldn't you have done all this before the election?

Since then, an internet-only 3-minute musical has been made. Which is amusing and star-studded, but I wonder if it goes too far in its caricature of its enemies. And, again... why didn't you do this before?

I suppose, as the musical states, people were busy campaigning for Obama (and not busy enough campaigning against Prop 8).

Well, with any luck, it'll be overturned. (There's a court case pending.) I damn well hope so. It's just not right, to say the least.

Comments

[theblackshadow.livejournal.com]

"And, a week or so after it passed, enough voters realized they'd been duped by the massive ad campaign (backed notably by the Mormon Church) to make the difference..."

Hey Paul! Are there any specific ads floating around that you know of? I started doing some Googling, and everyone seems to be talking about the church now but not really saying what they did besides donate a boat-load of funding. I confess, I was way more interested in the big election, so Prop 8 information kind of got pushed to the wayside; but regardless, I step aside anyway as a Roman Catholic and just let the regular voters have their say. It amazes me though that a church could have this much influence, but I suppose my Catholic friends and I are pretty cut and dry on the issue; we're either for Prop 8 or against it, and no amount of church funding would change our tunes.

[pgwfolc.livejournal.com]

I'm not certain, but I believe there was a central Prop 8 campaign. Other churches, groups, and individuals donated, but a large portion of the money came from the Mormon church.

So, yeah... that's mostly what the church did. Gave a lot of money to fund a massive ad/propaganda campaign. Money which came from their congregations. Preachers strongly encouraging the flock to push for this and give money and volunteer their time and such. I believe there were mailings sent out and call centers and such. (Many based in Utah, working across state lines.)

The thing is (and this surprised me) that a lot of the voters who (according to the poll) changed their minds after voting day said that they'd done so because they hadn't understood what it was really about. While I haven't seen the specific ads myself, that leads me to believe that the ads were at least somewhat misleading.

(Of course, similar measures passed in several other states, but it's shocking to see it pass in California.)

You're right that most people are solidly for or against it. However, there's a percentage of independent voters on just about any issue. People with no strong feelings one way or the other. Prop 8 had heavy support amongst the usual conservative base, but it's the small percentage of independents who put it over the top. It's them that the ad campaign swayed, and that the protests have swayed back.