News reports are coming in that more than 244,000 petition signatures were submitted today on behalf of a state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage -- the most ever collected for a ballot measure. To qualify for the Nov. 2 general election, the proposal had needed just 100,840 valid signatures and supporters were aiming to collect about 130,000 as a margin of safety. In essence, they turned in about twice as many signatures as needed to ensure the measure gets on the ballot, an unprecedented milestone in Oregon history.
Why are we not surprised? [Disappointed, perhaps, but not surprised.] WWP said from the start that religious conservatives would not simply ignore the Multnomah County Commission's unwanted backroom decision to expand marriage rights to gays, even if the commissioners were well intentioned. Politically, there were probably a thousand ways to arrive at the same result, but few of those, of course, could ever result in the ACLU love fests, flattering New York Times profiles and fawning tributes from all the usual suspects here in the People's Republic of Portland. No, we had to do it the hard way, in fact, perhaps the one and only way certain to awaken pent-up religious zeal and whip it into a furor that will likely doom same-sex marriage for the rest of our natural lives.
Is it even worth pretending this initiative won't be approved in November? What's more, is it even worth spending money to fight it?
Given that there are bigger and more important things to do this fall -- and that the presence of this ballot measure will bring out the pro-GWB forces in biblical proportions -- WWP is already rethinking the allocation of his election dollars.
Isn't Oregon better than this, one reader asks b!X. Well, no, not really.
Sorry to sound so cranky. WWP just hates having to repeat himself.
If you want to blame someone you ought to also point the finger at Basic Rights Oregon. This was their idea.
Posted by: Chuck Currie | Thursday, July 01, 2004 at 06:08 PM
WWP, I'll leave you to guess if my name is one of those signatures. But I will say this, I am so glad this happened. The results of all those signatures tells me that God still has his people and Oregon is not as close to the abyss as I thought. I truly am happy that this innitiative made it to the voters!
Posted by: tammy | Friday, July 02, 2004 at 06:46 AM
I don't think I'd get too worried about it. They were out in force in front of my Catholic Church on Sunday, hitting up just about everybody. For the signature gatherers, this would be known as "Low hanging fruit." - easy money. However, when it comes to the actual election, I think the more reasonble position will defeat this measure.
Posted by: MojoMark | Friday, July 02, 2004 at 09:28 AM
Dream on, MojoMark. Rest assured this measure will pass; the only uncertainty is whether it will take Bush in with it.
I didn't really think Oregon was much a "swing state" this year as everyone proclaimed. I surely do now.
Meanwhile, the tax and economic structures of the state, which desperately need public attention, will lose to another round of relatively symbolic ones.
Posted by: Sally | Friday, July 02, 2004 at 05:30 PM
WWP suspects church folk will be blamed both for making the same-sex marriage amendment possible -- and for failing to stop if from happening.
Stake out your positions carefully. Some of us are taking notes.
Posted by: Worldwide Pablo | Tuesday, July 06, 2004 at 10:21 PM