Bring on the Propaganda!

No discussion of Proposition 8 would be complete without looking at the propaganda being thrown at California residents. But who is the propaganda really targeting? Both sides of the debate are spending their money and resources trying to sway undecided voters towards voting one way or another. More specifically, they are trying to target heterosexual voters, who may or may not have had any contact with people from the LGBT community, and therefore may not have concrete views on the issue.

For example, a friend of mine is an organizer for the Vote No on Prop 8 campaign, and her main job is to run phonebanks on Oxy's campus in an attempt to get students to give voters the "facts" of the proposition in order to convince them to vote no. The majority of the people that she calls do not have a firm stance on the issue of same-sex marriage, and many do not understand what the issue really even is.

Putting any biases of my own aside, I find it very interesting how both sides on the issue have chosen to frame the idea of same-sex marriage to market a specific viewpoint to heterosexual voters. Those in favor of Prop 8 state that it would protect the sanctity marriage, and not allow California to start down that slippery slope that would lead to churches being forced to marry homosexual couples, children being brainwashed and 'taught the gay", and eventually lead to other moral depravities such as marriage between men and animals. The pro-Prop 8 side has chosen fear tactics, though usually garnished with a nice, happy picture of a smiling heterosexual family. Through these tactics, voters somehow think that their marriage might be affected, and therefore plan to vote yes.

On the other side of the coin, those against Prop 8 are playing the equality card, telling voters that Prop 8 would be a crime against the great ideals of freedom and equality that make up the backbone of our country. A tv commercial put out over the summer by Let California Ring shows a heterosexual couple trying to get married, but things keep going wrong to prevent the bride from reaching her husband to be. Through this commercial, Let California Ring is playing upon voter's empathy, making them think about how awful it would be if they themselves could not marry who they loved, and therefore plan to vote no.




So which tactic is more effective? To date, the supporters of Prop 8 have out raised the opponents 3-2. With more money, comes more access to voters, and more chances to sway the out come of the election. Being in a very liberal environment, I have a skewed view of how the two campaigns are functioning - I have never seen a supporting of Prop 8 campaigning around Oxy. However, I would argue that the fear tactics of the supporters of Prop 8 are more effective for a simple reason - people vote on issues that they think affect them. A voter is more likely to vote to protect themselves, than to vote to protect the freedom of others. Heterosexual voters who have no contact with those in the LGBT community do not have an access point to the issue, and therefore may not be as motivated to go to the polls that day, especially since their vote for the Presidential election does not really matter (since California will go blue). On November 4Th we very well might be seeing a large step backwards for the gay rights movement.