The following is a press release from Restore Equality 2010.
Los Angeles – Today we are witnessing the launch of the campaign to restore civil marriage equality in 2010 with the submission of ballot language by a coalition of organizations and individuals led by Love Honor Cherish. It is an important step forward as we prepare to send activists throughout California to gather signatures to put the issue back on the ballot in 2010. Â
Restore Equality 2010 believes today’s submission of ballot language is an effective strategy, because it offers our community the most options as we prepare for the campaign ahead. We applaud all efforts that move us towards the restoration of marriage equality in California as soon as possible, including the important qualitative and quantitative research Courage Campaign is currently conducting as it seeks to determine the most effective message to use on the ballot.Â
We are in close contact with both Courage Campaign and the Love Honor Cherish coalition, and look forward to facilitating the efforts with all interested parties to determine the most powerful way to move towards our common goal. Courage Campaign’s research seeks the best strategy for the campaign while Love Honor Cherish seeks the advantage of a full 150 days for signature gathering. We are pleased to have the benefit of both strategies as we move forward together.Â
Should the research being conducted by Courage Campaign show us that another approach offers a greater opportunity for victory, Restore Equality 2010 will be able to refile language and push for fundraising to support a shorter signature gathering period. The campaign will also be ready to mobilize activists the day language is approved by the Secretary of State should the language submitted today prove to be the best choice, thus preserving the full 150 day window to gather signatures.Â
About Restore Equality 2010Â
From the inception of Restore Equality 2010 (www.restoreequality2010.com) on August 29th, our work has concentrated on mobilizing the grassroots, providing the grassroots community with a workable structure to organize signature-gathering, create a legal entity for fundraising and strengthen our relationships with organizations who share our goals.Â
The Restore Equality 2010 campaign’s mission is to organize and empower grassroots activists to have a voice, access, and resources to be successful in the upcoming campaign. The Interim Administrative Group (IAG), which is the temporary governing body, is dedicated to building an organization capable of running a successful campaign at all levels.
Chris,
The 2010 mid-term election may not be the best year for your initiative to be on the ballot:
According to a new Pew Survey Research poll, Democrats’ edge on the generic congressional ballot test is down to 45 percent to 44 percent, a considerably tighter margin than what Democrats enjoyed in both 2006 and 2008. Unsurprisingly, a large part of this shift has been driven by independents, who favored Democrats 44 percent to 33 percent in November 2006 but give the GOP a 43 percent to 38 percent edge now.
Junior,
I couldn’t agree with you more. I am solidly in the 2012 camp. It is a foolish and misguided effort. It is however a news story, so we ran with the release.