The CA Supreme Court ruling to legalize same-sex marriages could be just what the GOP ordered. National support for Republican Party leadership ranks only slightly higher than support for measles, and John McCain has not yet succeeded in rallying the religious wing of his party.
But now religious conservatives have a mission and that is to overturn the court’s decision with a state constitutional amendment that will likely qualify for the Nov. 3 ballot. How will those voters (not to mention Democratic constituencies that oppose gay-marriages) impact the other items on the same ballot?
So far, several bonds will be on the Nov. 3 ballot including a $9.95 billion bond to fund a third of the long awaited High Speed Rail system as well as a $990 million bond to fund children’s hospitals. Here in Los Angeles, the community college district has placed a $3.5 billion bond on the Nov. 3 ballot, and LAUSD is considering a bond, too. If L.A.’s MTA board decides to place a half-cent sales tax increase for needed transportation projects on the same ballot, we’re suddenly talking about a lot of tax increases just as the economy is taking its toll on the middle class.
It appears that religious conservatives could have a significant role on Nov. 3 if the gay-marriage ban qualifies for the ballot. They could end up delivering California to John McCain and quashing several bonds that need all the support they can muster for passage.
I will be interested to see how both parties respond to the Court ruling and how the presidential candidates respond to California’s constitutional amendment to undo it.