California Supreme Court,  Gay Marriage,  The Ryskind Sketchbook

California Gay Marriage Ruling Fuels Political Battle

The Ryskind Sketchbook

Thursday’s ruling by the California Supreme Court overturning a ban on gay marriage previously passed by a vote of the California electorate has fueled a political firestorm.

Just hours after the California Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry, Mathew D. Staver was already raising money to overturn the decision.

Mr. Staver, the founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, a Florida group that defends traditional marriage, flew to Dallas on Thursday night for a late dinner meeting with a fund-raiser. The topic was how to finance a campaign for the California Marriage Protection Act, a November ballot initiative that would amend the state Constitution and effectively undo the court’s decision.

“I flew to Dallas to discuss this specific issue,” said Mr. Staver, who had several trips on similar business planned in the coming week. “And we talked until the early morning hours.”

Such late-night strategy sessions will probably become common as those on both sides of the same-sex marriage issue start what they anticipate to be a protracted and expensive battle.

The Evangelical Right from across the United States will help fund the campaign and the Christian churches will turn out their members to vote in record numbers.

Look for Hispanic voters to turn out to vote for the California Initiative and Consitutional Amendment 07-0098 as the Catholic Church weighs into the political fray. At the same time, they will cast their Presidential ballots for John McCain or against African-American Barack Obama.

An expensive social issue campaign will excite the electorate and drive the turn-out of massive numbers of the RIGHT voters.

The moribund California GOP must be licking their chops at the prospects.

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California Supreme Court Overturns Gay Marriage Ban


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