One of California's best -- and quirkiest -- political writers is Bill Bradley, whose New West Notes is essential reading if you're interested in California. He has a new piece at the Huffington Post on the strategic debate over when to repeal Prop. 8 that surveys the landscape pretty well.
But his discussion of strategy, like most discussions of strategy, I suppose, is too clinical. Political strategy can be a cold science, but as we learned from Yes on 8's Frank Schubert (who is now in Maine, trying to establish himself as the nation's go-to guy for the anti-gay marriage crowd), politics is very often best practiced by intuition and guts. A less nimble opponent might have missed the implications of Gavin Newsom's "Whether you like it or not" gaffe, which no strategy could ever have anticipated. Schubert's instinct for populist homophobia was right on, and he capitalized on it, to his -- well, "credit" isn't exactly the right word for his amoral achievement.
But there's not much life left in that horse, and maybe next time we'll have some folks of our own whose instincts are better than their spreadhseets. It's that aspect of politics -- and particularly the politics of gay marriage -- that I think our leaders are missing. The other side claims a vague and tattered morality, but we've got the real thing.
There is another non-strategic fact about any repeal of Prop. 8 that transcends the pie charts. Whether it happens in 2010 or 2012, or even, god forbid, 2014, California will, almost certainly, be the first state to have its voters amend their constitution to eliminate a ban on gay marriage. The constitutional bans, and particularly Prop. 8, were the last creakings of the machine of discrimination. The repeal of Prop. 8, whenever it comes, will be looked back on as the death knell for an unlamented age. And I'm still quite sure California will be the state that strikes that blow.
3 Comments for “Gay Marriage in California: More Than Spreadsheets”
posted by TS on
Mr. Link,
I sure hope you’re right about this.
posted by BobN on
But there’s not much life left in that horse
With Newsom running for governor? Seriously?
posted by David Link on
I don’t know, BobN. I really think the populist homophobia that Schubert exploited in California is on its last legs. There’s only so much fake moral outrage people can feel before they start getting tired out by it. It takes a lot of energy to be so constantly conscious and suspicious of fellow citizens, and I think there’s a certain amount of outrage fatigue setting in here. Selling this brand of fear in Maine, of course, may be like selling cigarettes in China — it’s an untapped market. But pretty soon, its addictive and toxic effects do come to people’s attention.
We’ll see.