Prop 8 Q&A with Mormon Pollster Gary Lawrence

Four questions.

Four answers.

Q&A #1 (4:18 minutes):

A) Laughable? What's "laughable" is Gary's "6,000 years" assertion re some global six-millennia-strong definition of marriage.

B) Consequences? Gary: maybe some of us are thinking about the consequences for first- and second-graders with LGBT parents, rather than simply ignoring them.

C) Frame it however you'd like, Gary, but if I allow my kids to attend the wedding of a teacher - who they adore - what business is that of yours? Your framing of what you call "a mistake" strikes me as yet another example of folks like you making it your business to infringe on the rights of parents like me.

Roll tape #1:



Q&A #2 (3:12 minutes):

A) "Institutional" vs. "member" funds. Not much to say about this exchange. That said, it did leave me wondering how to square Gary's line re individual Mormon member financing of Prop 8 with his later comments (see Q&A #4) re the vertical structure of the LDS church?

Roll tape #2:



Q&A #3 (3:50 minutes):

A) Yes, Gary, me and you both would like to see some post-Prop 8 "Name ID" polling on that.

B) The mid-October 2008 tracking poll that Gary cites is very interesting. Seven percent ??? 7% ??? ...

Thanks, Gary, for confirming that those of us on the No side didn't get the job done when it came time for drawing attention to who - specifically - was funding Prop 8.

C) Gary's planning to do some follow-up polling two years from now? Blue's Clues, folks. 2010. Get ready. Gary & Co. already are.

Roll tape #3:



Q&A #4 (3:35 minutes):

A) What is it - exactly - that makes Mormons different from other faiths? Gary knows. Listen and learn. It's got a lot to do with vertical vs. horizontal and geographic vs. non-geographic organizational structures.

B) Force? Mormons don't use "force"? Whatever.

We're a nation of laws, Gary. In this country, our secular laws = all the force needed to turn your agenda into my reality. And I'll respect that "force" throughout my campaign to change the laws that you've helped to implement, because, whether you like it or not (and even if you recognize it or not) we're all Americans.

So, finally, roll tape #4:



Granted, none of this makes much sense (in terms of a way forward) unless you're willing to listen to the audio and walk in Gary's Mormon Weltanschauung for just a few minutes.

For those who are willing to listen and learn, I know you'll be emboldened ... because once you've caught wind of Gary's own polling, you'll come to understand that our opponents are not nearly as daunting as you might have supposed.

All their admitted competence aside, what they've figured out is ultimately not all that complicated. Our opponents are who they are. They're vertically integrated ... and Gary's February polling is what it is. And as long as we remain true to the task at hand, we will move on and render Dr. Lawrence's early 2008 findings inoperative.

Their best days are behind them. Their only hope has always been those folks in the muddled middle who, until lately, were conveniently unaware that both Mike Huckabee and Rick Cizik were about to get their respective asses kicked by folks on both sides of this issue (Jon Stewart and the NAE, respectively).

Going forward, Gary will continue to read his tea leaves, but we're gonna drink his Mormon milkshake.

Because even if many of us can't see it yet, there is a 50-state strategy emerging in the Prop 8 aftermath: because all of a sudden there's an understanding that any successful strategy relies on all of us taking the fight to whoever dares get in our way locally. Wherever we are, whatever the locale, we all understand: coordination is no substitute for courage.

The Prop 8 campaign looks set to be remembered as the exception that finally got us fired up enough to prove the rule that we're all Americans.

Enjoy your victory, Gary.

And good luck with your future polling efforts.

I look forward to hearing more from you in the future.