Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Prop. 8: No, It was the Catholics and Mormons

Politics / Religion Chris Thompson — Wed, Nov 12, 2008 at 8:12 AM

With all due respect to Dan Walters and Bob Gammon, blacks didn't make the difference in the Prop. 8 vote. They may have voted 70-30 for the ban, but 64 percent of Catholics voted for it as well, and they comprise 30 percent of the electorate. In addition, Mormons provided at least 40 percent of the Yes on Prop. 8 funding. Sure, there's a lot of homophobia in the black community, and Obama produced an elevated African-American turnout. But when it comes to organizing and financing the Yes on 8 campaign, no one can compare to Roman Catholic archbishops and the Mormon church leaders.

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I voted for Prop 8 and I have no qualms in admitting to the fact. I have nothing against gay marriage per se, but I am vehemently against teaching
about gay marriage as if its some sort of ideal in schools, especially kindergarten.

Also, if Gays want to be married (thereby enjoying a certain measure of freedom), they should extend the same courtesy to those who do have a
religious issue with homosexuality. Specifically, I speak to the suing of Catholic churches to make them stop running adoption services or
renting out their premises simply because thyey would not do so for gay couples.

If liberal fascism is to be shoved down our throat as a tyranny of the minority, I have no problem pushing back in equal measure. All the points I have
raised are true - specific examples abund in Massachusetts.

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Posted by Stuka on November 13, 2008 at 11:23 AM

Chris,

The fact that Catholics would vote for Prop. 8 in large numbers was never in doubt. But the argument that they tipped the scales for the measure is shaky at best -- unless you know of numbers that show there was a surge in the Catholic vote this election, like there was for black and Latino voters. The point that Dan Walters is making is that if blacks and Latinos had showed up in their normal numbers, Prop. 8 likely would have lost. Have you seen any exit polling data that shows that fact is untrue? Or have you seen any polling data that shows that Catholics came out in big way this election? If there is, then I'll concede that it was the Catholics, blacks and Latinos that made the difference for Prop. 8. But if not, then it's pretty clear that while Catholics voted for the measure, they couldn't have got it passed if it hadn't been for the Obama-supporting blacks and Latinos who showed up this election.

As far as the Mormons go, I heard a robocall on liberal radio last night that the Yes on 8 folks financed, targeting black and Latino voters. The call quoted Obama as saying that it's his religious belief that a marriage is between a man and a woman, and then the announcer says that if you plan to vote for Obama, you should vote yes on 8. Clearly, if that robocall convinced blacks and Latinos to vote for the measure, then it's fair to blame the Mormons.

Bob