"We are going to
lose this ... if we don't raise the money we need to
compete on the airwaves," Geoff Kors, the executive director
of Equality California and a member of the No on 8
executive committee, said during a conference call
with LGBT reporters Tuesday afternoon.
The call, dubbed
an "Emergency LGBT Media Briefing," was held in
response to a just-released poll conducted by Lake Research
Partners, which shows the yes side leading by
four percentage points. Currently, 47% of voters
support the banning of gay marriage in
California, while 43% would vote against a ban,
according to the poll.
That is a major
shift from recent polling results that
claimed opponents of the ban, Proposition 8, had a
five-point advantage among voters. The reason for
the shift, Kors explained, is simple -- Yes on 8 is
raising more money, and its most recent ad campaign
has been highly effective. The ad features riled-up San
Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, telling a crowd of
supporters in May, just after same-sex marriage was
allowed by the state supreme court, that gay marriages
are coming "whether you like it or not."
Though Lake
Research Partners' Celinda Lake said studies show the No on
8 ad campaign has proved to be effective with
voters, Kors said the additional money raised by Yes
on 8 has allowed ban supporters to get their
message out to a wider audience.
Supporters of
outlawing same-sex marriage have taken a substantial lead
in fund-raising, with ProtectMarriage.com taking in $25.4
million through September 30 and the main No on 8
committee reporting $15.8 million in donations.
Steve Smith,
manager of Equality for All, which is a coalition of groups
working to defeat Prop. 8, predicted the coffers for both
sides would level out by November 4. "What's
happening is a little seesaw battle," Smith told the
Associated Press.
On the conference
call, Smith and Kors put it a little more plainly -- No
on 8 needs to raise at least $10 million in the next 28
days.
That money, they
say, will be used to directly combat the Yes on 8
ad campaign's strategic advantages. Smith stressed that No
on 8 is having great success reaching young voters
through grassroots and Internet viral marketing
campaigns, but that more money is needed to compete with
television advertising. (The Advocate)
