Election Memories

2008 October 29 at 4:53 PM (2008, GLBTQI rights, me, Prop. 8, voting)

I’ve been thinking about election memories. My earliest political memory is from 1992, when Clinton meant a different Clinton and Bush meant a different Bush. My mom bought me a Scholastic biography of William Jefferson Clinton, a thin book that had a picture of a smiling, white man in a dark suit, seated behind a desk, hands folded. I thought it was cool how he’d wanted to run for president all his life, how he’d gone to Yale and how he was a Rhodes Scholar. I didn’t realize how strange it was that the new president didn’t come from a rich family, that his dad had been a traveling salesman, his mom a nurse, and his step-dad an abusive alcoholic. But that’s not my earliest political memory.

My earliest political memory is from 1992, when Clinton meant a different Clinton and Bush meant a different Bush, and my second grade class held a mock election. Chris Murphy said, “Don’t vote for Clinton. My dad says he’s a fag.”

The other election that stands out in my mind is 2004, when Kerry and Edwards were running against Bush and Cheney. My roommate and I were going to watch the election results come in, damning the fact that we were on the East Coast and had three more hours of nailbiting than the West Coasters did. Her girlfriend invited her over to her room and I ended up watching the election with a bottle of Ketel One. I was up until four or five in the morning, steadily becoming more and more drunk and more and more distraught, hoping against hope that somehow, the disputed votes would be counted and Kerry would win. That was all that I had left to hope for, since the same-sex marriage bans on eleven state ballots had all passed, and had passed with significantly more than a bare majority. Voters in Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Utah voted for measures that defined marriage as being between one man and one woman. Some states went further and refused to recognize civil unions, while others went even further and banned civil unions outright.

Last week, the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) released the latest edition of the Statewide Survey: Californians and Their Government. They found that the gap between the pro- and anti- marriage equality voters had decreased from September’s 41% yes, 55% no to 44% yes, 52% no. While the decrease in support is worrisome, what is more alarming is the importance the poll subjects attached to the outcome of Prop. 8, an indication of how likely they were to turn out and vote on the measure:

The proportion saying the outcome of the vote is very important has increased over time (48% August, 54% September, 57% today); however, this has occurred more among “yes” voters (57% August, 62% September, 69% today) than among “no” voters (44% August, 51% September, 49% today). – Full report, PDF

Furthermore, polls are mixed. A SurveyUSA poll from Oct. 17 showed Yes on 8 ahead, 48% to 45%, and a poll done by Marist College for the Knights of Columbus showed support for Prop. 8 at 52% and the opposition at 43%.

Polls are an inexact science and it’s anyone’s guess as to how the increased voter turnout for the presidential election will affect Prop. 8. What stands out to me the most is not that various partisan and nonpartisan polls are showing conflicting results, but that the PPIC poll shows that the opposition has decreased and the support for Prop. 8 has become more fervent.

I cannot overemphasize how important Prop. 8 is. It’s not merely another anti-marriage equality ban, it’s an amendment to the state constitution. It’s not merely another state constitutional amendment, but the first attempt to take away marriage equality in a state that already recognizes and performs same-sex marriages. That’s why Prop. 8 is different. In all the other states that passed anti-marriage equality bans, rights were denied and discrimination was written into state law, but the rights had never been recognized to begin with. Here, the California Supreme Court recognized that the 2000 ban on same-sex marriages was unconstitutional and granted an affirmative right to marry. If we lose on Prop. 8, we’re not losing theoretical rights. We’re losing real rights that have been recognized by civil authorities, and that’s why Prop. 8 would be a huge, unique setback to the GLBTQI rights movement.

There are six days until the election. Both sides are flooding the airwaves with advertisements, jamming the phone lines with voter calls, and hitting the pavement with canvassers and demonstrators. Supporters of Prop. 8 are donating their life savings (SacBee) to Yes on Prop. 8 because they see it as a cause worth fighting for.

Pam and Rick Patterson have always followed teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and tried to live within their means.

He drives a 10-year-old Honda Civic to his job at Intel. She is a stay-at home mom who makes most of the family meals and bakes her own bread. The couple, who have five sons between the ages of 3 and 12, live in a comfortable but modest three-bedroom home in Folsom.

It’s a traditional lifestyle they believe is now at risk. That’s why the Pattersons recently made a huge financial sacrifice – they withdrew $50,000 from their savings and donated it to the Yes on Proposition 8 campaign, the ballot measure that seeks to ban same-sex marriage. …

“The No. 1 reason members are donating and working toward this cause is the preservation of the traditional family,” she said.

That’s why Auburn resident David Nielson, 55, is giving. He said the church has not pressured him to contribute.

“Absolutely not,” said Nielson, a retired insurance executive. He and his wife, Susan, live on a budget. The couple donated $35,000, he said, “because some things are worth fighting for.”

The couple will forgo a vacation for the next two years and make other sacrifices to pay for their donation, he said.

“If it doesn’t pass, then at least I can tell my grandchildren I gave everything I could,” Nielson said.

The Pattersons, who have been married 14 years, say there were thinking about their children’s future when they decided to tap into their savings to contribute. And they also said no one pressured them into giving. [emphasis mine]

When November 2 comes and the polls have closed and the votes have been counted, will you be able to say that you did everything you could? That you stood up for what you believed in?

I’ve been getting emails from complete strangers about Prop. 8, people that rushed their weddings and had civil ceremonies just in case Prop. 8 should pass and ban new marriages but allow already married couples to stay married. I’ve been thinking of the lives at stake and how much a few short months can matter, let alone the years it would take to repeal Prop. 8.

According to No on 8, when undecided voters view both Yes on 8 and No on 8 ads, they’re more likely no. This means that getting our ads out is essential, which means buying ad time. According to Drs. Green and Gerber, Poli Sci profs at Yale, volunteer efforts are extremely persuasive (Slate):

Political scientists have run dozens of such studies during the past few years, and the work has led to what you might call the central tenet of voter mobilization: Personal appeals work better than impersonal ones. Having campaign volunteers visit voters door-to-door is the “gold standard” of voter mobilization efforts, Green and Gerber write. On average, the tactic produces one vote for every 14 people contacted. The next-most-effective way to reach voters is to have live, human volunteers call them on the phone to chat: This tactic produces one new vote for every 38 people contacted.

This means that talking to your friends, family members, and coworkers is essential. I’ve done phonebanking for No on 8 and by freak luck I haven’t talked to anyone that was undecided or voting yes. However, during phonebanking for No on 4, I’ve talked with undecided voters that changed their minds and decided to vote no after a short conversation, so I can easily believe that phonebanking works.

The election is six days away. Make sure to vote (absentee voters, mail in your ballots before Tuesday, because they have to arrive by the time polls close, or make sure to drop your ballot off at a polling location). Donate what you can ($5 minimum at the No on 8 site). The Nielsons and the Pattersons are sacrificing their savings and cutting vacations out of their budgets in order to support Prop. 8. What are we willing to give up to support marriage equality, anti-homophobia, and civil rights?

Phone bank at a No on 8 office or from your home. Conversations are short, easy, and effective.

Volunteer on Election Day and show your support for NO on Prop. 8. Take the day off work or do a shift in the morning or evening and show a real, human face to the voters.

My earliest political memory is of Chris Murphy, an eight-year old classmate, repeating his father’s hate speech. “My dad says Clinton’s a fag.” My 2004 presidential election memory is of watching anti-GLBTQI, anti-civil rights, pro-homophobia measures get voted in with overwhelming majorities. I want 2008 to be different. Help me make that possible.

Fight for equality. Fight for love.