California DU'ers...what's your honest take about Prop 8 this Tuesday?

[terrya]

What do think, from what you've seen and heard, will happen Tuesday night?

I'm across the country...Chicago...so, I have a bit of distance, obviously. But I'm cautiously optimistic it will be defeated.

Needless to say, my best wishes and hopes that it will fail.

[driver8]

1. I am very nervous about this...

There is a HUGE push by the Prop 8 people to get this through -- lots of money behind it.

The lawn signs for Prop 8 vs. those against is about 4 to 1.

I was talking about this with a friend of mine last night and I told him that I hope the Dems come out and vote "NO" on this -- if not, we are in trouble.

[Cronus Protagonist]

2. It will not pass, IMHO

The Mormon bigots will be standing at the freeway entrances and exits with their little bigots in training holding signs that say "save me from the gay agenda". but this time around Dianne Feinstein's been all over TV AGAINST prop 8. Yup, Feinstein, our hardest core right wing DINO (CA standards) has been on TV all over the place against prop 8. If she's against it, it stands no chance, IMHO. I expect prop 8 will get the votes of the 240,000 Mormons and a hundred thousand hard core Catholics and that won't be enough to win.

[ellius101]

3. hopefully it fails

I'm in a conservative part of CA, the "yes" on Prop Hate have been out in force, standing with their kids at stop signs holding 'Yes on 8" signs. Truly disgusting how the Mormons and out of state money has funded this thing.

[_pigdog_]

4. Haters on street corners but check out latest poll.

I live in a red suburb of San Diego. Unfortunately I have to drive by a busy corner each morning full of haters waving signs. The good news is the below poll and at that at least twice "No on 8" people have taken over the corner.

Yesterday on my way home I was stuck at a red light at the hater corner. I rolled down my window and motioned one of the creatons over and called her a bigot. She said "God Bless" and put on her Jesus loves me grin. Am I going to hell?

To answer your question - It's getting lot's of attention on both sides. I believe it will fail but it will be close.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20081031-9999-1n31field.html

[The Brethren]

19. You were a lot more patient

with the "God Bless" you hypocrite then I would've been. I'm sick of extremist, religious nuts who think I will tolerate them trying to shove their bigotry into our lives....which is what they're trying to do in CA through Prop. 8. Her fake, back-stabbing smile would probably make me even more angry and I would've likely told her that she's wasting her 2 bit con games on me.

It really makes me mad when they use "God Bless" as they try and shove their bigotry down our throats. I also see no difference between extremists in organized religion, whether it's Mormons or Christians, etc. then "cult" members. Except extremists in organized religion are perceived as some respectable, God fearing people who are just a little misguided. That's b.s. They're just as brain-washed and twisted as cult members. And they think they should be telling us how to live our lives.

[sui generis]

28. stop, pull out a digital camera and take pictures of them

if you can do so safely. Some day somebody will make a documentary, or wander into your office looking for work . . . .

[TechBear_Seattle]

5. I'm feeling optimistic

I have family members in California: my parents in the Central Valley, my sister near San Diego and a cousin near San Jose. I also have several friends in other parts of the state. All of them strongly oppose Prop 8.

My mom told me a few days ago about running off a guy going door-to-door and passing out flyers about "saving marriage", all but screaming at him that he had come to the WRONG house to peddle his hate and that if marriage is worth saving it must be open to all and nothing could make her prouder than to see her gay son marry a nice man and get all the legal rights and protections. (I just about fainted; that is NOT the mother I know.) She also said that opposition to Prop 8 is so strong in her Methodist Church that congregants have started speaking out against the church's ex-gay ministry it has been running for years.

My sister is voting against everything as a matter of course, but has said that Prop 8 gets a no vote because it is the correct vote. Her church is pretty conservative too, but she said that opposition to Prop 8 is more vocal and organized than support. Most of her friends have also said they will oppose 8.

The battle isn't won yet, but I have a good feeling about it.

[msongs]

6. Obama wins big early = haters stay in their temples & not vote - let's hope nt

[ronnykmarshall]

9. I just hope it doesn't work in reverse.

Obama voters stay home .... NAW!!!! I think even if they networks are close to calling the election before the West Coast closes, Obama voter will still vote.

[xchrom]

7. i honestly don't know -- plenty of dems here will vote for 8.

people forget there can be a very conservative streak here.

[ronnykmarshall]

8. Very close.

I'm scared to death about this.

[Iggo]

10. I dunno.

The thing is, in my neighborhood I see ten yellow signs for every blue one. (I live in Whittier, about a mile south of the blvd.) To be fair, houses without signs outnumber houses with signs by about 30 or 40 or more to 1. Still...the only people I hear talking about it are the Yes folks. Almost all the radio advertising is Yes. I haven't seen a No ad on TV at all. Can't figure out where the money's going, but it ain't to advertising as far as I can see. Anyway...I got a bad gut feeling. I should probably be thrown in the GD dungeon with Ms Maddow for not being all chipper and shit...lol.

[LeftyMom]

18. I wouldn't stress the signs- they bought them cheap from China so they could give them away

The mormon churches in particular have been handing them out in stacks with instructions to distribute them.

[Fearless]

11. Well, I'm from MA not CA, but I'll link the editorial I wrote for MA a couple of years ago...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=103&topic_id=397624&mesg_id=397624

[LeftCoast]

12. I've been cautiously optimistic from the beginning

I really trust the Field Poll. They are usually spot-on when they poll CA propositions (a fairly tricky business). So, while I believe that it will fail, I would not be incredibly surprised if it passes either.

[Ellen Forradalom]

13. Cautiously optimistic

Even in my fairly conservative suburban neighborhood, people are not taking kindly to the streetcorner h8rs.

[totodeinhere]

14. I think it will lose narrowly. n/t

[Adsos Letter]

15. Both sides are fighting hard...but I think we will defeat it come Nov. 4th.

[Oeditpus Rex]

16. I'm worried

Prop 8 has been on my mind far more than the POTUS race. I don't want to think of the state I've lived in all my life as bigoted, but I'm afraid that may turn out to be the case. It's probably because I live in a rural area with a relatively high concentration of Mormons (Donner Party survivors settled here), but I see many more of those hideous yellow signs than blue ones — same with letters to editors, etc. Then again, I realize signs and letters don't necessarily equal votes.

I tend to see the negatives in ethos, too, so you probably just shouldn't pay any attention to me. :)

[mitchtv]

17. My guess? It loses.

They are matching the yes ads, and lawn signs around here in red coachella Valley.

[litlady]

20. Could go either way - my thoughts:

Good: The amount of registered Republicans in the state is down to less than 30% and over 40% Democrats.

Bad: Prop 22 in 2000, which stipulated the same thing, passed with 61% of the vote, including Democrats. Many Democrats are for Prop 8. There will be people who vote Obama as well as for Prop 8.

Good: However, something like 90% or so of newly registered voters are Democrats (amazing). Many of these are surely motivated by Obama and may be more progressive and younger, though I don't know the demographics.

Bad: The issue of innate fear still comes into play and this is heavily fueled by the misleading ads. Some of my students talking about it said "well, I don't really care if gays marry but I don't want them teaching about gay marriage in schools." Then they read the text of the legislation and said "oh, there is nothing about that in there at all." But most will not look at that.

Good: Many celebrities and politicians have come out it against it. Prop 22 had nothing like this level of support from celebrities and politicians.

Bad: However, most people I have seen with signs are Yes on 8. I posted in the California forum about a large group of Yes on 8 folks that bothered me the other day. Many cars went by honking in support. The Yes on 8 movement has just as much financial support.

So - I see it going either way. I believe it will be very close but I just can't say whether it will turn out in the name of equality or institutionalized discrimination.

[cboy4]

21. I have no idea......I'm just hoping the Obama landslide here

will help equate to even a close victory for our side.

If it loses, I will have lost a lot of the joy I would otherwise feel for the Democrats winning.

You think I'm bitter toward church folk now? My anger will multiply ten fold.

We're just so outnumbered in society, it's really hard to win these kind of things.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[grantcart]

22. I am not optomistic

In canvassing there are some Democrats who are for it.


The people who are for it are really for it and going crazy. They use their chruches to organize, they have the visibility events, they have signs and they are droping literature at every house.


I don't see that much activity on the "no" side.


Yesterday at a Freeway ramp there was a woman in her 50s who was waving a sign and I stopped and stood with her for 30 minutes.


Most people are against it but the people that are for it are much more motivated than the average person who is against it.


I hope to be surprised -- its going to be close. It will depend ironically on how many Republicans who are against it show up to vote. Republicans who are for it will show up even if the election is called early. Republicans who are against it may decide they just don't have anything that important to vote for in CA.

[pinto]

23. Despite the big financial edge the Yeson8 folks have, I think it will be defeated.

Besides a big sea change in public sentiment re: equal marriage rights, there is growing aversion here to changing the State Constitution by Proposition.

[grantcart]

24. I hope your right -- the other side seems frentic so its hard to tell

how many of them there really are

[goodgd_yall]

25. Yes will win

I hope I'm wrong, but from the perspective here in the Central Valley, they seem so frenzied about passing 8 that I'm afraid the one issue will bring people out to vote who otherwise would have sat out the election. In other words, it will bring out the one-issue voters.

[KitchenWitch]

26. I am optimistic that it will fail

But only by a narrow margin.

I have personally worked by phonebanking and holding signs on the street corners to defeat this slimy piece of "legislation".

I cannot do any more, since I will be in the hospital starting tomorrow, but I have put a whole lot of my personal energy into defeating Proposition 8.

[Tektonik]

27. The No on 8 campaign has been amazing, but I think 8 will pass, sadly

California is still a pretty backasswards state for lots of things.

[David Zephyr]

29. I have been very pessimistic until the last week. I think things are turning against Prop 8.

The hateful side of Prop 8 is counter-current to the optimism of Obama's swell of support here.

Prop 4 will go down in defeat and I now believe, yes, I believe that Prop 8 will also lose.