Boot Camp: Behind-the-Scenes in the Marriage Equality Fight
Here's an interesting podcast about a Boot Camp for civil rights activists that took place on the USC Campus last weekend which consisted of a number of discussion groups and workshops intended to train activists for campaigning for marriage equality in California.
Nancy Pelosi's daughter Christine and Reverned Eric Lee were the Boot Camp's keynote speakers.
Watch the podcast, AFTER THE JUMP...
ON ANOTHER NOTE, MAINE:
Have Boot Camps such as these taken place in Maine, where a marriage equality ballot measure looms? One would hope.
Following the release yesterday of an ad from Protect Maine Equality in response to a fearmongering ad from the marriage equality foes, Californians Rex Wockner and Mike Tidmus both spoke out, saying they feel that Maine is making the same mistakes with their advertising that the "No on 8" people made.
Said Wockner of Protect Maine Equality's ads: "They are not hard-hitting. They are high-minded concept ads. They are a repeat of No on 8's mistakes in California. The 1st ad ... is decent, showing a real gay family and speaking some truth. But overall: Reboot now. 33% is a failing grade. The folks who ran No on 8 in California were timid and, at the same time, stubborn. Gays lost marriage in California when they lost the $80 million TV-ad war. The fall season is upon us. No more reruns."
Phillip Minton of Unite the Fight agrees: "Sticking to 'outsiders are going to ruin Maine' theme isn't going to work if Mainers agree with the outsiders. And believe me, plenty do! We need to kill their arguments before they even voice them. We need to tell Mainers, 'You're going to hear that marriage is going to be taught in schools, but you have the power to decide that yourself in your districts. You're going to hear that your church is going to be sued, but you already have protections in place by law. The other side is going to try and confuse this issue, to state things that are not in the law. They want to mislead you. They will lie to you.'"
Says Tidmus: "If Protect Maine Equality No on 1 is going to win, they’re going to have to grease up, get down deep in the mud, and wrestle every bit as dirty as NOM’s Maggie Gallagher and Mark Mutty of Stand for Marriage Maine, neither of whom seems constrained by that whole not bearing false witness thing."
So what do you think about Maine's ads (their first two are here, the others linked above) and is there something essentially different about the fight for marriage equality on one coast than on the other?
Watch the California Boot Camp podcast, AFTER THE JUMP...
Posted Sep. 17,2009 at 8:50 AM EST by Andy Towle in California, Gay Marriage, Maine, News, Proposition 8 | Permalink
Ugh, history repeats itself. What is wrong with liberals. The same thing applies health care and a myriad of other issues. We allow the wingnuts to control the debate. We allow them to lie, we let them spread their deceit unchallenged and then it's too late. Fox News is an expert in this, they tell outrageous lies, and then inconspicuously retract a few days later. By then of course, the damage has been done. No one remembers the retraction, only the initial lie. Same thing happened just yesterday regarding the Jimmy Carter comment. Carter never said "people who disagree with Obama's policies are racist" - however, that is how AP published the story - and now EVERYONE believes that is what he said. We allow these bigots to spew lies and what is our response? Have we learned NOTHING???? Now is not the time to be timid, we need to fight fire with fire. We need to seize control of the debate from the other side in all issues - and make no mistake, we are currently letting them control the debate!
Posted by: Mike | Sep 17, 2009 9:48:31 AM
I think the Californians should stick to California. How does Tidmus know what Mainers think? They lost, and they're telling other people how to run their campaigns?
VT Freedom to Marry people are helping in Maine. We actually WON our battle, and Vermont is demographically much closer to ME than CA is.
The ads, unlike those in California, show ACTUAL GAY PEOPLE from Maine. They play on the same anti-outside bias the right tries to use against us. I think it's a good tactic.
Posted by: Kevinvt | Sep 17, 2009 10:26:39 AM
Note that they highlight the guy in the anti-gay ad: he's a Boston College law professor! Apparently the right wingers couldn't find any Maine lawyers or profs to spout their hate.
Calling him out as a deceiving outsider is exactly right.
Posted by: Kevinvt | Sep 17, 2009 10:29:48 AM
I like both ads by our side so far. I do agree that we need to get the opposition sides agruments out there before they do. But, being from Maine and having lived here for the last 8 years and in NH on the Maine border for 30 years before that, there's one thing that Mainer's don't like- outsiders (people from away) coming in and telling us what we they need to do. We've seen it when developers try to come in and ruin the landscape. I think saying the opposition is made up of people from away is a good tactic. California failed. Why should we listen to them?
Posted by: Kerry | Sep 17, 2009 10:40:42 AM
Mike Tidmus and Unite the Fight are in no way affiliated. Tidmus began blogging in 2003 in Europe. Unite the Fight started up last year in response to Prop 8.
Posted by: Auntie_Dogma | Sep 17, 2009 10:53:58 AM
I agree with Rex Wockner that the CA ads--as I remember them--were high-minded concept ads (some of them it wasn't even clear that they were about marriage), but I don't think that's true of the Maine ads. The Maine ads show gay families, including enlightened older straight parents of gay children who older straight voters can relate to. In New England, I think you have to be clear and to the point but "hard-hitting" is dangerous. New Englanders respond better to live and let live than anything that comes across as aggressive or angry. Frankly, I trust the local Maine marriage folks to know their citizens better than Wockner or Tidmus.
Posted by: Ernie | Sep 17, 2009 12:13:24 PM
The Boot Camps are happening here in Washington where we also have a major fight on our November ballot. It's not "marriage", but a DP bill that's everything but the word (all the state rights).
We have a very short time and a huge education campaign due to the confusing ballot: Vote YES to keep the law the legislature already created and the (Catholic) governor signed.
Please donate for tv ads: http://wafst.org
Posted by: David R. | Sep 17, 2009 12:59:49 PM
I've been much m ore impressed with the Maine ads than I was with the California ads. Does anyone remember the No on 8 ad, two ladies looking at photos of a vacation. One lady says "I'm uncomfortable with this gay marriage thing" and the other lady stops her, "No, that's okay to feel that way." Way to validate their prejudices in our own commercial.
No on 1 minces no words about putting all families on the same playing field (they're featuring actual gay families, this is very important) and I like the fact that they've introduced all of their families in the first ad, and with each consecutive ad we get to see more about them and we get to know them. They are running a very smart, quick to respond campaign.
Posted by: Adrian | Sep 17, 2009 1:17:11 PM
... Why do we listen to the folks who failed us in CALIF? How about you let Mainers run Maine and you guys lose again in Calif. Just saying.
Posted by: Dustin | Sep 17, 2009 4:15:14 PM
I have to disagree with those sentiments saying the Maine ads are going to fail. The Yes side is trying to mimic what Prop 8 did and unfortunately for them it is going to fail here. Those who will vote Yes will do so because of religion, here, there is no other reason. It's what makes that Boston Lawyer ad so ineffective. It just takes a concern from elsewhere and ejects it into Maine. You can't use the same battle tactics universally.
Posted by: Washington | Sep 17, 2009 5:28:37 PM
TWO HETEROSEXUALS were keynote speakers at a gay event. WHAT A SURPRISE! *sarcasm*
No wonder we lost in California, so many gay people believe haterosexuals are more valueable. And that's one of the reasons haterosexuals voted to take away your right to marry. Haterosexuals don't want you on a level playing field with them, they always want a massive advantage over you.
I agree the Maine ads need to get tougher. At the same time we need help from YOU. You need to talk to Maine voters to get them to vote NO on Question 1. Use phonebanks provided by EqualityMaine, email Maine newspapers, talk to friends and family etc.
Posted by: Bill | Sep 17, 2009 6:00:08 PM
Bill: the Maine vote will fail if it does not get MASSIVE heterosexual support. In case you haven't noticed, they're actually the majority.
Frankly, I'd be afraid of what might happen if you were on the phone with the average Maine voter, who happens to be heterosexual. Homophobes are the problem. Heterosexuals are not.
We have many many great straight allies who passed marriage equality in Vermont. There's no reason to cut them out, and doing so would be suicide.
Posted by: Kevinvt | Sep 17, 2009 7:04:40 PM