Report from the SF "Get Engaged" townhall meeting
July 16, 2009 11:49 AM | 0

 

So, I went to the "Get Engaged" meeting at the LGBT Center on Tuesday night. It was part of a statewide series of town halls, designed to show off the data being gathered to fight Prop 8. A good time was had by all. Here, I think, was one of the more interesting findings: the room was surveyed both before and after the meeting to see what year everyone preferred. In both surveys, the room heavily favored 2010. After the meeting, though, there were fewer undecideds -- so the meeting did help people make up their minds otherwise. But the newly-decided people were pretty evenly split between 2010 and 2012, so the data and arguments did not skew people towards one year or the other. The other interesting point: EQCA and Courage Campaign collaborated with David Binder on collecting tons of useful data. It's very encouraging to know that this is happening -- it'll form the basis of the campaign in 2010 or 2012 or whenever. We can't move forward without it so I'm glad to see it. None of the findings were surprising: - CA is split 50-50 on equal marriage - Crucial: win not just swing voters but also those currently opposed - Effective messages: couples, personal stories. heart stuff. - Ineffective messages: rights, fairness. mind stuff. - Groups we must win over: religious, elderly, conservative. Race debunked as major factor -- religiouness much more significant. - Adding provision to ballot that clarifies religious liberty significantly increases support. - Estimate: to change enough minds, we'll have to knock on 90,000 doors. Molly says: "that's steep, but not impossible." - Leadership summit on July 25 (Inland Empire) will answer question "what's the plan for 2010 or 2012?" I spoke to a bunch of people after the meeting. Everyone was wavering on the arguments between 2010 and 2012 -- we all could see the arguments for and against both years, and even the people leaning toward one year or another seemed like they could be convinced. I didn't get the impression that anyone was really strongly committed to either year. What people DESPERATELY wanted, however, was a plan. This is totally consistent with what I'm hearing elsewhere: most folks are saying, "I'll go with either 2010 or 2012, whichever year has a plan behind it." Hopefully that plan will start to come together at the July 25th summit.