A Sacred Vow, But Not to Journalistic Standards

"Over the next two years, we will be organizing two million marriage activists from every state in the nation to form an online army of marriage activists willing to stand up for marriage on a moment's notice, sending emails and making phone calls to legislators whenever marriage is threatened. "The initiative represents the most ambitious effort ever of its kind, using a combination traditional TV and radio advertising and direct mail, coupled with the internet technology and social networking tools that President Obama used so effectively in his presidential campaign. To assist with this ambitious new initiative, we've enlisted the expertise of Schubert Flint Public Affairs -- the same group that managed the Prop 8 Campaign in California last year. " [Emphasis added.]

"We needed to convince voters that gay marriage was not simply 'live and let live'—that there would be consequences if gay marriage were to be permanently legalized. But how to raise consequences when gay marriage was so recently legalized and not yet taken hold? We made one of the key strategic decisions in the campaign, to apply the principles of running a “No” campaign—raising doubts and pointing to potential problems—in seeking a “Yes” vote. As far as we know, this strategic approach has never before been used by a Yes campaign. We reconfirmed in our early focus groups our own views that Californians had a tolerant opinion of gays. But there were limits to the degree of tolerance that Californians would afford the gay community. They would entertain allowing gay marriage, but not if doing so had significant implications for the rest of society."