October 20th 2008—Yes to Marriage?……Only for some people

As I was driving into the city and surfing the radio stations, something caught my ear. It sounded like a commercial or PSA but I wasn’t sure.  It started off with a woman describing at some length being in a restaurant with a man who was waving his arms wildly.  (I thought it might have been about being sensitive to people with disabilities and I was heartened by this notion.) Then it went on to talk about how he stopped and asked the woman narrating this first person account if he could ask her a question. She said yes. Next, he bent on one knee “in front of the family and everyone else in the restaurant” and asked her to marry her.  She said yes with joy and glee.  Then comes a fellow narrating, “Help us to preserve marriage. Let’s keep it simple and clear, between one man and one woman the way it was meant to be.”  I almost drove off the road as I stared at the car radio in shock as if it had come alive.  It’s not that I haven’t heard this kind of stuff before….I don’t live under a rock, but to hear it on the radio in a commercial was not something my liberal east coast self was used to. J Anyway, I recovered and called a friend who lives in Tucson who then shared how extensive the radio and TV campaign is and stated that there is even a website. www.yestomarriage.com in favor of Proposition 102.

Anyway, that evening, I was supposed to meet with two women (African American and Latina) who had traveled from California to Get Out the Vote in Arizona and whom I was going to shadow while they did their door knocking as part of SEIU for Obama’s GOTV campaign. I arrived at the appointed address, called both of their cell phones, texted both of them, and called both of their cell phones again another few times.  After an hour I never heard from them, which was very disappointing. I was also a bit worried about them because it was pitch black in this community in which they were supposed to be canvassing and I had just gotten confirmation an hour earlier that they were waiting for me. I left a message with the folks at SEIU about what happened.  Then I gave up and drove to Phoenix. I just hope they are okay.

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