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Loading ...Calif. gay marriage battle attracting massive funds
10.07.2008 1:17pm EDT
(San Francisco, California) Supporters and opponents of a ballot initiative that would outlaw same-sex marriage in California have poured $41.2 million into the race, more than the combined total spent in the 24 states where similar measures have gone before voters since 2004.
Campaign finance figures show supporters of the gay marriage ban have taken a significant lead in fundraising even as Proposition 8 has lagged in public opinion polls. A backer, ProtectMarriage.com, reported taking in $25.4 million through Sept. 30 of this year compared to the $15.8 million in donations raised by the main committee opposing the measure.“It shows there is tremendous grassroots support for what we are trying to do,” said Frank Schubert, co-manager of the gay marriage ban campaign.
Schubert said more than 60,000 people and businesses have given money to help pass the initiative, which would amend the state constitution to limit marriage to a man and a woman. He provided the figures Monday before the group filed its official fundraising report with the secretary of state’s office to meet the reporting deadline.
Steve Smith, manager of Equality for All, a coalition of groups working to defeat the gay marriage ban, predicted the bank accounts for the two sides would even up by Election Day on Nov. 4. He noted that when the last campaign finance reports were filed at the end of July, the proposition’s opponents were ahead.
“What’s happening is a little seesaw battle,” Smith said.
Both sides have set aside more than $10 million for television advertisements and plan to start airing their second round of ads this week. The fundraising advantage Proposition 8’s supporters have at this point is reflected in the remaining cash on hand they reported having on Monday – $12.8 million for supporters of the ban, $1.8 million for its opponents.
According to figures compiled by the National Organization on Money in State Politics, a little less than $33 million was spent on campaigns to pass or defeat gay marriage bans in the 24 states where they appeared on ballots in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Supporters of same-sex marriage had the fundraising edge in all of them, but voters approved all but one, in Arizona.
With a month to go until the election, fundraising by the two sides in the California campaign already has well exceeded that amount. By comparison, the most expensive gay marriage fight before now was in Colorado, where opponents and supporters spent $6.8 million in 2006.
“For an issue like this, it’s a lot of money,” said Rachel Weiss, a spokeswoman for the national Organization on Money in State Politics. “California is in its own universe.”
Imagine how many homeless people that money could have fed and housed during this month in California?
It’s a shame that religious people would put so much energy into defeating something that doesn’t affect them in the slightest, rather than using that power to help their fellow man. So much of doing what Jesus would do…
If you dig deep enough, you’ll discover that ALL these Reich-Wing organizations have only one “product:” HATE. They don’t do ANY of the things Jesus commands in the Gospel — feed the hungry, clothe the naked, succor the widows and orphans, visit the sick and the prisoners, “do unto the least of these my brethren as you would do unto me,” etc. etc. etc. Their TV programs and mega-churches are like pyramid schemes … their sole object is raising money to feed Ba’al’s voracious fires of hate. They worship the Bible, NOT God. That’s idolatry. They lie. That’s bearing false witness (the IX Commandment). They lay heavy burdens on OTHERS’ backs, but refuse to carry them themselves. “Generation of vipers! Whited sepulchres, full of dead men’s bones!” Jesus didn’t think much of their ilk in his own time.
Cheers,
Bud Clark
San Diego CA USA
It is a disgrace that bigotry can attract such huge sums of money. Think of the good those funds could do–feed and house homeless, save homes from foreclosure, restock food pantries, finance free medical clinics—just a few possibilities. That these funds are being spent to deny rights of a minority of our citizens is shameful and surely does not speak well for the self proclaimed “Christians” responsible. These bigots aren’t Christians, and need to wake up and get a life!
If the frequency of the ads appearing on TV for proponents and opponents of Prop. 8 is any measure of which side will win, then the supporters of the measure are clearly winning.
In my area, the ad ridiculing SF mayor Newsom and the CA supreme court appears on every major station several times an hour. How many ads from the opposition have been shown? I haven’t seen even one.
“Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” Jesus
For all who care about gay marriage and ending homophobia – read on…….
I’m quite well off, though our family income from SS and jobs only totals about $45k/yr. My goal had been to leave lots of money to our kids, we are talking about $20 thousand per kid each year.
But this year I told them that there would be much less money for them. For it is not really how much money I leave them, but what kind of country I leave them. A country based on equal justice under the law. Or a Talibanic right owing Christian conspiracy, whose basic lesson of gaining political power reminds me of how adolph hitler using hatred against another minority gained power. And the result was WWII, and 50 million deaths.
I’ve given $30,000 to “no on 8″, to support gay marriage in California. WILL YOU ALSO PLEASE STEP UP TO THE PLATE AND GIVE UNTIL IT HURTS?
Go to http://WWW.EQCA.ORG/MarriagePAC
Alex21TX