What’s the future of the referendum industry after Prop 8?
What’s the future of the referendum industry after Prop 8?
The Supreme Court yesterday killed the same-sex marriage ban in California, Proposition 8. Campaign money spent by both sides of the issue rivaled a presidential election. All those man hours and all that money wasn’t for nothing, Prop 8 supporters say. After all, launching a referendum is a huge gamble.
“We had a quarter of a million volunteers in our campaign, we raised nearly $40 million. We communicated in nearly two dozen languages,” says Frank Schubert, political director for the National Organization for Marriage.
Schubert managed the Proposition 8 campaign, and says despite the Supreme Court’s decision, it was still an impressive battle.
Experts say the time and money investment is risky, but it’s one a lot of donors are willing to take.
“You contributed funds, or you contributed time, or you contributed resources of some sort and you lost the fight, you see this as a lost battle, but the war is still going,” says Nino Saviano, president of Savi Political Consulting.
He says as long as there are folks arguing that marriage is the union of a man and a woman, there will be plenty of donors to keep funding that war.
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