Mormons Tipped Scale in Ban on Gay Marriage

SACRAMENTO — Less than two weeks before Election Day, the chief strategist behind a ballot measure outlawing same-sex marriage in California called an emergency meeting here.
“We’re going to lose this campaign if we don’t get more money,” the strategist, Frank Schubert, recalled telling leaders of Protect Marriage, the main group behind the ban.
The campaign issued an urgent appeal, and in a matter of days, it raised more than $5 million, including a $1 million donation from Alan C. Ashton, the grandson of a former president of the Mormon Church. The money allowed the drive to intensify a sharp-elbowed advertising campaign, and support for the measure was catapulted ahead; it ultimately won with 52 percent of the vote.
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The California measure, Proposition 8, was to many Mormons a kind of firewall to be held at all costs.
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Jeff Flint, another strategist with Protect Marriage, estimated that Mormons made up 80 percent to 90 percent of the early volunteers who walked door-to-door in election precincts.
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On Oct. 28, Mr. Ashton, the grandson of the former Mormon president David O. McKay, donated $1 million. Mr. Ashton, who made his fortune as co-founder of the WordPerfect Corporation, said he was following his personal beliefs and the direction of the church.
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Another of the advertisements used video of an elementary school field trip to a teacher’s same-sex wedding in San Francisco to reinforce the idea that same-sex marriage would be taught to young children.
“We bet the campaign on education,” Mr. Schubert said.
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That said, the extent of the protests has taken many Mormons by surprise. On Friday, the church’s leadership took the unusual step of issuing a statement calling for “respect” and “civility” in the aftermath of the vote.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/15/us/politics/15marriage.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=login&pagewanted=print

Eff them and their respect and humility!!

in this coalition get behind Romney in 2012?

it to give himself credibility with the fundies in 2012. Another theory he has is it is the X Romney people in the McCain campaign that are dissing Palin.

You want to point the finger and cast blame...

Point it at religion.

It doesn't take much to tip a scale if the balance is close to equivalency. No one group of voters that voted against it had the power by themselves to prevent its passage. Just like no one group of voters can get it passed either.

:freak: