How the Connecticut Vote No campaign thwarted an attempt to outlaw same-sex marriage:

[NorthernSpy]

On Nov 4th, Connecticut Vote No won -- with about two-thirds of the vote -- by reframing the issue. Basically, they put the emphasis not on marriage, but rather on how dangerous it is to alter the Constitution to take away rights, regardless of the reason. This was a sentiment that even many people who disapprove of same-sex marriage can relate to, and so framing the issue in this way allowed Vote No to split off those voters.


It would be a good idea to study this victory for useful insights, because the Vote No campaign in Connecticut went about things very differently than the No on 8 campaign in California.


http://www.ctvoteno.org/

[defendandprotect]

1. Wow,..yes!!!

[unpossibles]

2. I agree. We need to frame this as equal rights, not as gay marriage

I'm not saying we should pretend it's not equal marriage rights, but it really is a more basic problem, and one we should all be ashamed of not supporting 100%.

[NorthernSpy]

5. the worst mistake is to accept the opposition's framing of the issue...

Because that puts progressives in a defensive stance.


The first point to get across is that rewriting the Constitution to take away rights is going too far. You know: "well, we can agree to disagree about gay marriage, but I think we can all see that changing the Constitution is just too dangerous. I mean, if you start changing the Constitution like that, where does it end?"


In other words, use generous amounts of FUD (fear, unease, distrust) to slow down the opposition.


And then go from there (appeals to fairness, appeals to benevolence).

[msongs]

3. was CT being hijacked by the LDS church? nt

[bluedawg12]

6. That honor belongs to their neighbors in the west.

Don't know who was beind the CT prop.

Also, Illinois had an ad running against changing the State constitution, now I wonder if that was the same move as they tried in Ct?

[NorthernSpy]

7. The money was only part of it. Mormon and Catholic groups did extensive outreach...

... in the black and Hispanic communities in California. And it paid off, unfortunately.


That doesn't have to happen again. It IS possible to come up with a countering message that works.


New Haven is about 40% black, plus around 22% Latino. And 61% of New Haven voters voted No, just like the rich white voters of Greenwich.


http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/files/elections/2008/general/by_county/statewide/CT.html?SITE=CTHARELN&SECTION=POLITICS

[bluedawg12]

8. NorthernSpy - They had money and they mounted a campaign

with it.

The churche had enough to money run a real political campaign. That was an organization for one issue.

I am not surprised, especially if they had a ground game and grass roots out reach.

So, going back to steps.

Where is our main GLBT organization nationally?

I tried seven years ago to find some main group to go to, a blog a web site, there was nothing.

The other night when I was debating against P8 with Cali voters, again, lot's of web sites "about" gay marriage, but no main organization. Or am I wrong?

Because with ogranization you can create a movement, without it, we are all just venting on the inter net.

[bluedawg12]

4. This is excellent.

I am not a Californian, so I can’t say what happened there.

But, as I mentioned earlier today in another thread here, where is there a main GLBT web site, campaign headquarters so to speak, where information is posted - nation wide and locally?

Hen, there were people of stature, academics in law, the Gov. And the league of women voters. Those would be expert opinions.

There were two ads, not sure if they were only inter net or also for TV.

But I am aware that in total the Prop8 vote cost both sides $60 million dollars from both sides. So, there was a lot of money spent, and I do know that RW groups spent something like $40 million. TV ads are important.

But mostly they framed their message succinctly, and clearly and in keeping with the current themes: dislike of lobbyists, populism and bumper sticker politics which people are tired of, they mentioned gay marriage and looks like they won.

They also tied into to the Obama message of change, riding on the coat tails of that movement.

Calif. Is now going to be a Court issue.

But we can learn from this on a nation wide level.

Now, who is the premier national GLBT group for gay issues and marriage?

Who is our national leader?

Where is our web site?

[bluedawg12]

9. Just saw this analysis posted here by Ellen Forradalom

It's worth a read, my first outsider glipmse into what happened.

http://calitics.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=7432