Protect Marriage Arizona has given up any hope that the continued counting of the early ballots would miraculously make Proposition 107 pass. Arizona is now the first state in the nation to defeat a constitutional amendment to define marriage as only a union between one man and one woman. A statement issued by Protect Marriage Arizona implies that the other side distorted the debate:
Make no mistake: the defeat of Proposition 107 had nothing to do with whether Arizonans believe same sex marriage should be legalized or not.
Arizona voters were bombarded with misinformation about Prop 107 by our opposition. We were outspent about 4 to 1.
Our opponents were able to focus the debate on what Proposition 107 was not about: benefits for unmarried individuals. Our opponents were able to scare seniors into believing they would lose their social security benefits if Prop 107 passed. Our coalition simply did not have the funds to respond to opponents’ attacks and distortions about the true intent of Prop 107.
Claiming that Prop 107 wasn’t about denying benefits for unmarried individuals regardless of sexual orientation is absolutely absurd. Why then, does the entire second half of the proposed amendment read “no legal status for unmarried persons shall be created or recognized by this state or its political subdivisions that is similar to that of marriage”? It’s pretty clear who is being intentionally misleading and spreading misinformation about Prop 107: the same people who drafted the amendment!
But, unfortunately, Cathi Herrod is probably right about one thing: the defeat of Prop 107 probably had little to do with wether or not Arizonans think same sex marriage should be legal. So I’m fully expecting that, come 2008, we’ll be voting on another, narrower, marriage amendment that will likely pass. In fact, if I was a Republican who intends to run for President in 2008, I’d be absolutely delighted that Prop 107 failed. It’ll be just one more opportunity to get the anti-gay Republican base out to the polls.