So Goes The Nation
by digby
The first vote I ever cast was for Jerry Brown for Governor of California way back in the day. It's one vote I've never regretted. He's a bold and forward thinking liberal:
Opposition to a California ballot measure to ban same-sex marriage is mounting following Attorney General Jerry Brown's move to change the language on the initiative, according to a Field Poll released today.
The poll found that just 38 percent of likely voters support the measure, while 55 percent intend to vote no. That compares with 42 percent in support and 51 percent opposed in July.
Brown amended the Proposition 8 summary language after the state Supreme Court's decision on May 15 to overturn California's previous ban on same-sex marriage.
The pollsters found the amended language played a role in that growing opposition, especially among the 30 percent of likely voters interviewed who had never heard of Prop. 8.
Those voters were much more likely to oppose the measure when read Brown's wording (58 percent against it and 30 percent for it) than those in the same category who were read the old version of Prop. 8 (42 percent against and 37 percent for it), according to the Field Poll.
The Brown language reads, in part: "Eliminates the right of same-sex couples to marry." The original version read, in part: "Limit on marriage."
Brown's revision makes it clear that voters are taking away someone's rights and that made the difference, said Field Poll Director Mark DiCamillo.
This is really good news. (So's this: yesterday, Brad Pitt gave 100k to the cause.)
These numbers come from the Field Poll, which is considered the most reliable of all California polls. But I'm told that others show this initiative far closer, so there's no reason to relax.
But think about this. California has a population of 38 million people and is somewhere in the top ten largest economies in the world. And if this initiative passes, along with Massachusetts, we will have completed a process that guarantees the right for gay people to marry. It's a huge step forward in human rights and one that I predict will be looked back on in the not so distant future as shocking, not because it was done, but because of its necessity. Of course gay people should have the right to marry. Why ever not?
(Meanwhile, some people are suing the state over the fact that marriage licenses in California no longer use the words "bride and groom" which, like, totally ruins their super-awesome wedding they've been planning, like, forever!)
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