Dem Strategist: some risks for marriage amendment opponents
Gary Pearce is the wisest wise man looking out for Democrat interests in The Tar Heel State. He has been at the helm for some of the party’s greatest successes. Writing in his blog, Pearce notes some potential pitfalls this year for opponents of Amendment One:
Why did President Obama announce he’s against Amendment One? Because African-American voters strongly support it.Since African-Americans lean so strongly Democratic, an oft-overlooked fact is that they are the most church-going, religious and even evangelical voting blocs in a religious, church-going state. And polls show they strongly oppose same-sex marriages.The recent Elon Poll gave hope to amendment opponents. It showed that 54 percent of respondents (all North Carolinians, not registered or likely voters) oppose the amendment; 38 percent support it.I’m more skeptical. Private polls show strong support among voters statewide.The prospect of a competitive and meaningful Republican presidential primary won’t help. It will turn out Republicans. And heavy African-American turnout in the Democratic primaries for governor and lieutenant governor won’t help.The best thing opponents have going for them is that the amendment is poorly written and could hurt a lot of people, not just same-sex couples.It’s also counter-intuitive to vote “against” the amendment. Voters are used to hearing about amendments that support same-sex marriage.So maybe opponents should target Republican and conservative voters with a simple message: “Vote AGAINST the gay-marriage amendment. Vote NO in May.”Confusion can be your friend.
Personally I believe Brad Crone is better by far. Pearce was what you needed if you didn’t care about how it was done, looked the other way, went along doing what he was told and was rewarded with credit for capaigns a lamp post would have won and authoring a book I find hard to believe he actually wrote (on Hunt) is historically challenged and that doesn’t sell to many more than the expected crowd.
Although I am a strong republican, Brad Crone is at least intellectually honest, and knows what battles to pick. Skip Stam on the other hand will launch a Jihad at the drop of a hat.