With Wisconsin's 'Defense of Marriage' amendment likely to go to voters in November, groups on both sides of the debate are working to develop action networks that they hope will sway the hearts and minds of Wisconsinites and ultimately bring victory to their own side.
Julaine Appling, executive director of the Family Research Institute of Wisconsin and coalition coordinator for the Wisconsin Coalition for Traditional Marriage, said this issue will be won or lost at the grassroots level.
She said groups trying to influence voters are asking, 'What's the most effective way of getting to the grassroots'?
For Appling and those working to pass the amendment, a sure way to get to the grassroots is to go through community churches. Appling said they have mailed a professionally-made DVD titled 'The Battle for Marriage in Wisconsin' to over 4,000 churches they know will oppose the amendment.
'We believe that educating pastors of churches and the people who attend those churches is extremely important and that there are literally hundreds of thousands of people who go to these 4,000 churches,' she said.
But those fighting against the amendment said they also feel the religious community will be sympathetic to their cause, according to Josh Freker, communications director of Action Wisconsin.
'Organizations representing about half a million churchgoers at the state have passed resolutions against the amendment,' he said.
Although much of the legislative action regarding the amendment is over, the political battle is still raging. State Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, and other Democrats are crying foul at the timing of the amendment. They claim it is not socially motivated, but rather is aimed at increasing voter turnout among conservatives who are likely to vote against Gov. Jim Doyle in his bid for reelection next November.
'If they were sincere about wanting to do it as soon as possible, they would have done it in April. If they were sincere about wanting to do it when the most people voted, they would have set it up during the next presidential election,' Risser said. 'But no, they want to do it in November, when they thought it had the greatest political weight for them.'
Despite Democrats' concerns, Freker said he thinks the timing of the process could actually aid in his group's efforts against the amendment. He said while groups in other states that passed the amendment had as little as three or four months to wage a counter-attack, groups in Wisconsin will have much more time.
