Oct 24, 2008  |  By: CHRIS JOHNSON  | COMMENTS     

With less than two weeks remaining until California votes on a proposal to ban same-sex marriage, some gay rights advocates are questioning whether the “No on 8” campaign is doing everything possible to win.

Several high-profile political leaders that previously came out against Proposition 8 — such as Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) — have not recently spoken out against the proposal.

But Gil Duran, a Feinstein spokesperson, said, “something is in the works,” referring to a television ad campaign featuring the senator urging a “no” vote on the amendment. He declined to provide any details about the ad or when it would start airing.

Obama has been largely silent on the issue, although he came out against the amendment in a June letter to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club in San Francisco.

The Obama campaign this week declined the Blade’s request for comment on the issue.

Republican presidential nominee John McCain, who supports the proposed amendment to the California Constitution, has not made media appearances in support of it.

Some political commentators, including gay blogger Andrew Sullivan, have suggested that a television ad featuring Obama speaking out against the amendment would help influence black voters, who generally oppose same-sex marriage, to reject the measure.

A poll published Oct. 17 by SurveyUSA found that 58 percent of blacks in California support Proposition 8, while 38 percent oppose it.

Obama’s running mate, Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), articulated his opposition to the measure Monday in an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Biden congratulated DeGeneres on her recent wedding to actress Portia de Rossi, and said that he opposes the amendment.

“If I lived in California, I would clearly vote against Prop 8,” he said.

Biden noted that both he and Obama voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment in the U.S. Senate, which McCain also opposed..

Also absent from the campaign is Schwarzenegger, who came out against Prop 8 in April and said at that time he “will always be there to fight against” the amendment.

Julie Soderlund, a Schwarzenegger spokesperson, told the Blade this week that the governor “is very focused on making sure the state is doing all it can to help alleviate the economic crisis that California and the nation as a whole is facing right now.”

She said the governor’s office is “still evaluating what the governor’s level of involvement will be in any other campaign.”

Patrick Guerriero, the new campaign director for the “No on 8” campaign, said his organization has been talking to political leaders.

“We are in direct communications with their offices and they have offered their generous support to us,” he said.

Kate Kendell, a member of the executive committee on the “No on 8” campaign and executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said “No on 8” is still evaluating whether to run ads that would emphasize Obama and Schwarzenegger’s opposition to the amendment.

“That’s one of the approaches being considered,” she said. “A lot of it is about resources. If we had had more money earlier, we may have had the luxury of multiple ads, and as we go into the final two weeks, the ad strategy will be a factor of resources and the very most effective messaging to win.”

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who represents San Francisco in Congress, has also been absent from television ads.

Drew Hammill, a Pelosi spokesperson, said campaign finance laws preclude Pelosi from making television ads against Proposition 8 because she is on the

ballot this fall.

But Pelosi’s campaign on Saturday donated $10,000 to efforts opposing Prop 8, and Hammill said Pelosi is encouraging other lawmakers to make similar donations and gave her district director leave to work on the “No on 8” campaign.

Later this month, Pelosi is scheduled to appear at a “get out the vote” event against Proposition 8 in San Francisco.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) has also made no recent statements or television appearances against the amendment, although she came out against Proposition 8 in an August letter.

Her office did not respond to a request for comment.

Gay couples absent from anti-Prop 8 ads

Meanwhile, television ads from the campaign against Proposition 8 have come under fire for not including gay couples and not being more explicit in stating that the measure would eliminate the right of gay couples to marry.

Robin Tyler, who with her spouse Diane Olson, was the first gay couple married in Los Angeles and one of the plaintiffs in the court case that brought same-sex marriage to California, said the absence of gay couples in ads is allowing the measure to gain ground in the polls.

Tyler said the poll numbers in support of the measure were lower when the media showed gay couples marrying after the court ruling, but noted that the numbers began to rise when gay couples faded from ...