I am in the City by the Bay, where the cable cars climb halfway to the stars. But I have not taken one since the fare was raised to $5.00.
When I moved from San Francisco, I did not leave my heart behind. A city that once was my sanctuary is now a sanctuary for illegal immigrants. It is also a safe haven for the homeless who camp out in doorways surrounded by their sh stuff. That is, when they’re not panhandling and generally making the streets of San Francisco rather grim.
Right now, polls show Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton lead John McCain in the Golden State. That’s the good news. There’s also an ominous sign on the horizon.
The California Supreme Court earlier this month overturned the will of the people and sanctioned same-sex marriage. Mind you, I’m old-school so I’m all for loving the one you’re with. That said, I think marriage is a union between a man and a woman.
Not so in San Francisco, where 4,000 same-sex marriages were performed at City Hall in 2004. The court stepped in and voided the “marriages.”
Also in 2004, a same-sex marriage initiative on the Ohio ballot was credited with peeling away black voters. In the run-up to the general election, a Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies poll found that 46 percent of African Americans opposed any legal recognition of gay relationships. Indeed, blacks are more conservative about homosexual relationships than the general population.
The Joint Center poll showed President Bush’s approval ratings among African Americans were 30 percent favorable to 67 percent unfavorable. Still, Bush received 16 percent of the black vote in Ohio, up from nine percent in 2000.
Since President Reagan’s reelection campaign, Republicans have used the metaphor “San Francisco Democrats” as code for a party that is out of touch with the values of small town Americans (read: Reagan Democrats).
According to a new Field Poll, a majority of Californians now support legalizing gay marriages. Field Poll director Mark DiCamillo cautioned the support may drop if a proposed initiative qualifies for the ballot. Well, the California Marriage Protection Act will be on the ballot.
If history repeats itself, Democrats may have nightmares knowing they again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
