"Supporters" You Can Do Without

In the lead up to the 2008 elections, candidate Barak Obama picked up many endorsements from notable political figures that helped him build the clout he needed within his party to claim victory (Bill Richardson, Ted Kennedy, among others). On the other hand, Obama also had to deal with a few endorsements that he wishes would go away, such Fidel Castro and Gaddafi. It turns out you can't control who claims to be on your side and ultimately some of your "supporters" hurt your cause far worse than your adversaries can.

For this reason, I avoid large public demonstrations in general, even for causes that I strongly support. While on the one hand, demonstrations attract media attention which generate political momentum for a cause, it doesn't take very many people to co-opt the group's message. An example of this happened outside the California Supreme Court while the fate of Prop 8 was being considered within. News reports about prop 8 supporters outside the court house frequently referred to a person carrying a sign that said "Dan White is a hero". For those unfamiliar with the story, Dan White killed San Francisco's first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk. In the most forgiving interpretation of events, Dan White was a very very sick man. In a more damning interpretation, he was a cold-blooded murderer. In either case, Dan White is no a hero. Neither Dan White's actions nor words of this prop 8 "supporter" should be allowed to stand as a representation of "Yes on 8" coalition. That sign is an offense to fair minded individuals on both sides of the debate. I hope in some small way this post serves to show that the mainstream of "Yes on 8" wants nothing to do with that sign's message.


*** Addendum ***

Recently, I came across an article thematically related to the post above. I always like to find somebody more articulate than me that espouses a point of view similar to mine. Orson Scott Card wrote a thoughtful piece: Letters better off not sent. It is a worthwhile read.