Dale Carpenter takes
a look at attempts to defeat the anti-gay marriage amendment in
Texas, and finds that activists are making the same strategic
mistakes that lead to amendment victories in 13 states last year
(including 11 ballot initiatives on Nov. 2). For
instance:
In a conservative Republican state, here's the coalition [activists] have put together to defeat the amendment: Among the eight "featured sponsors" of the anti-amendment campaign are three partisan Democratic groups, two leftist groups that promote "social justice," one statewide gay group that barely pretends to work with Republicans, and another that was founded by the daughter of former Democratic governor Ann Richards. This is, to be sure, a "coalition." It is a coalition of losers.
Critics will demand to know who else you could get to join forces in the anti-amendment effort. I dunno. But my gut tells me that allying with liberal to left-wing activists in a conservative state does more harm than good. By far.
By the way, there's a huge difference between "justice" (government acts to ensure equal treatment before the law) and "social justice" (government acts to redistribute resources to those it feels are more deserving-and more likely to vote for said government). Conservatives view the latter as distorting market incentives that drive growth and prosperity, and fostering dependency that produces social dysfunction. Maybe they'd vote to ban gay marriage anyway, but joining equal treatment for gays to such a wider agenda isn't smart politics.
Furter: Dale debates an amendment supporter, as recounted by the Houston Chronicle. His comments, I'm sure, were more persuasive than those of Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, also quoted in the article, who labels the amendment "a proposition of hate." We may think it is, among some supporters, but that rhetoric is not going to win over moderates who might be leaning in favor of the amendment out of fear that gay marriage will radically fray the social fabric. They know that hate isn't their motivation, and when we lob the "H" word instead of addressing their concerns, we guarantee we'll lose.
Still More: In California, the group
spearheading that state's anti-amendment fight, Equality
California, has posted on
its website a big "Payback for Arnold" banner. I guess they
think they only need votes from liberal Democrats. Bye-bye moderate
Republicans and independents; hello, defeat.