Bill Clinton Robocalls Against Prop 8

by Michael Jones · 2008-10-31 15:25:00 UTC
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ClintonHow would you like to pick up your phone and hear the voice of the 42nd U.S. President?  Well, if you live in California, there's a decent chance you may have had this happen to you yesterday.  Former President Bill Clinton lent his voice to a series of robocalls, urging California voters to reject Proposition 8.  So cool.

President Clinton hasn't had the greatest relationship with the LGBT community since his presidency ended.  Though he arguably did more for LGBT rights than any other president before him, many resented him for not following through on his pledge to end the ban on gays and lesbians serving in the military, and for signing the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in 1996.  Singer Melissa Etheridge, during an LGBT forum for Democratic Presidential candidates in 2007, famously accused President Clinton of throwing gays and lesbians "under the bus" because of these issues.

But President Clinton may have come a long way to rectifying those historical wrongs with these excellent robocalls for the No on 8 campaign.  Here's his message:

This is Bill Clinton calling to ask you to vote NO on Proposition 8 on Tuesday, November 4th. Proposition 8 would use state law to single out one group of Californians to be treated differently -- discriminating against members of our family, our friends and our coworkers.

If I know one thing about California, I know that is not what you're about. That is not what America is about. Please vote NO on 8. It's unfair and it's wrong. Thank you.

It's a shame we can't get Sen. Barack Obama to do the same thing.  But let's hope that Clinton's voice carries some weight for the No on 8 campaign.  The latest San Francisco Chronicle poll has the ballot initiative close -- 49 percent of Californians oppose Prop 8, while 44 percent support it.

The good side is ahead, but the gap is narrowing.  Please, pledge to tell your friends, family members, and anyone you know of voting age in California to oppose Proposition 8.

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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