The Marriage Juggernaut
VANCE, KEVIN
The Marriage Juggernaut Why Arizona fl ipped on gay nuptials. BY KEVIN VANCE Arizona voters last month approved an amendment to the state constitution defi ning marriage as “only a union...
...Those voters endorsed Prop...
...California voters themselves saw the need, approving a ballot initiative last month that nullifi ed the imposition of gay marriage by the state’s supreme court in May...
...Arizona voters spoke loud and clear,” says Herrod, “that marriage is a very important issue, that marriage is a timeless value...
...The ads highlighted the simplicity of the ballot initiative and cast doubt on the opposition’s argument that Arizona statutory law already defi ned marriage as between a man and a woman...
...107 campaign unfolded against a backdrop of consistent success for ballot initiatives banning same-sex marriage...
...Marriage is the foundation of the family, and the family is the basic cell of society,” he argues...
...Not everyone thought so...
...102 was important enough to merit their attention...
...Catholic Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix taped a short message that explained why traditional marriage is a “nonnegotiable issue” for Catholics, an unprecedented move...
...In particular, the opposition was able to frame the debate around the amendment’s most controversial provision, which read: “The State of Arizona and its cities, towns, counties or districts shall not create or recognize a legal status for unmarried persons that is similar to marriage...
...Johnson disputes the notion that the gay marriage amendment is simmakply an instance of faith groups’ trying to impose their “values” on the public...
...The Prop...
...Arizona’s religious leaders played no small part in turning out their congregants to vote for Prop...
...102 shed their fi nancial disadvantage, receiving over $7 million in contributions and swamping the mere $600,000 raised by the opposition...
...102, traditional marriage has now been codifi ed by every state that has put the question to a popular vote...
...Other issues related to that would be addressed at a different time...
...Just the simple defi nition of marriage was what we wanted to do,” said Herrod...
...Herrod said she had heard of evangelical pastors who spoke in favor of the amendment from the pulpit...
...How can Phoenix politicians continue to waste our time and money with divisive issues, when they should be addressing the important issues facing our state...
...They had a lot of money to run a really effective campaign...
...Yet Prop...
...Sam Holdren, public affairs director of Equality Arizona, which opposed Prop...
...Until the younger generation starts to get married and begin families, it is probably too soon to declare traditional civil marriage dead...
...We were only able to talk to a limited number of voters with a very narrow message,” said Holdren, while the supporters “were able to inundate people’s mailboxes and phones...
...102 among churchgoing Catholics...
...While this angered some liberal Catholics, Ron Johnson, the executive director of the public policy agency for the three Arizona dioceses, said Bishop Olmsted’s message led to a 32-point uptick in support for Prop...
...102, blamed California’s ballot initiative for fundraising diffi culties in Arizona...
...With courts in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and neighboring California delivering gay marriage to their states by judicial fi at, proponents of traditional marriage in Arizona could see the need to enshrine the defi nition of marriage in the state constitution...
...she asked in a radio ad...
...Cathi Herrod, president of the conservative Center for Arizona Policy, told me the length and complexity of the ballot initiative cost the “yes” campaign between 5 and 11 percent of the vote...
...BY KEVIN VANCE Arizona voters last month approved an amendment to the state constitution defi ning marriage as “only a union of one man and one woman”—just two years after they rejected a similar though broader amendment, making Arizona the fi rst state in the Union to reject a ballot initiative aimed at preventing gay marriage...
...107 had several strikes against it...
...And in a terrible year for Republicans generally, Arizona was especially bad: Democrats picked up retiring Rep...
...107 would end Arizonans’ access to the benefi ts their partners received under some companies’ and state and local governments’ health plans, though leaders of the “yes” campaign doubted the proposition would affect most benefi ts or the right to hospital visitation...
...They decided to push for a simple, straightforward amendment that would enshrine the traditional defi nition of marriage without touching the domestic partnership issues raised in 2006, thus making it diffi - cult for the opposition to obscure the central issue...
...After all, with Arizona voters’ embrace of Prop...
...It is worth noting, however, that exit polls in Arizona showed that only 51 percent of 18-24-year-old voters rejected Prop...
...102 by 56-44 percent...
...So did voters in Florida and even California, bringing to 29 the number of states that have passed constitutional amendments defi ning marriage as between a man and a woman...
...In the end, about 97 percent of Arizonans who went to the polls on November 4 thought Prop...
...In 2004, 11 states had passed such measures by large margins, and 7 more would pass them in 2006...
...Hayworth...
...Beth Walkup, wife of Tucson’s mayor and co-chair of the “no” campaign, tried to capitalize on a bias against social issues...
...What happened between 2006, when Proposition 107 was narrowly rejected, and 2008, when Proposition 102 breezed through...
...The initiative won every county in the state except Pima (Tucson), and even there the vote was extremely close...
...After Prop...
...Jim Kolbe’s seat and defeated conservative star J.D...
...This would have eliminated the domestic partnership status that some Arizonans already enjoyed under local law in Tucson, the state’s second largest city...
...In last month’s vote, the proponents of Prop...
...Opponents of Prop...
...Its proponents lost the money race, outraised almost two to one by the opposition...
...Herrod said reaching this group is a priority for the Center for Arizona Policy...
...The diocese believes the tape was played at every mass in its jurisdiction...
...And they ran what Herrod describes as a “first class campaign,” with fi ve television ads and even more radio spots...
...At the same time, many liberal commentators and several conservative ones were predicting the ultimate victory of gay marriage, as younger people enter the electorate and societal trends push our politics in an inevitable direction...
...107 went down to defeat by a vote of 48-52 percent, supporters of same-sex marriage adopted a clear strategy: They would back new partnership benefi ts, then frame the public debate around protecting those benefi ts, all the while paving the way for same-sex marriage...
...At bottom, though, the content of Prop...
...But opponents of gay marriage also learned from their loss...
...107 focused special attention on elderly cohabiting heterosexual couples who took advantage of Tuscon’s domestic partnership provisions to secure benefi ts they would lose if they married...
...It’s important to religion, but it transcends it because of the natural law and the benefi ts to society...
...Some voters feared Prop...
...Kevin Vance is an editorial assistant at THE WEEKLY STANDARD...
...107 was probably decisive...
Vol. 14 • December 2008 • No. 12
