I know some people will think we are playing with fire if we tried to run
state ballot initiative for constitutional amendments stating there is the right to privacy. I think they are wrong. The wingnuts of course will be all over this saying that it gives the right to abortion, but what will Moderates and Independents do? Could this be a counter to the wingnut legislatures in many states? Do we really have to fear a "red tide" that mobilizes the same way the anti-gay marriage initiative worked to the GOP advantage in 2004?
The most important aspect to making this work is in selling it. We would need to have a very savvy media campaign. One that focuses on
Terry Shiavo, companies selling peoples information, companies running credit searches for hiring purposes, and people feeling there is too much private of their private information "out there". We all know that this would also give woman the right to abortion, and that the Media will try to focus on the abortion aspect of the initiative. But we can and should fight this and win. The answer to the Media's question of "isn't this really about abortion?" Will be answered by
"it's the same as us supporting free speech but not supporting what Ann Coulter says, just that that she has the right to say it!" Any spokesperson for this initiative needs to stay on message about this.
Another reason this would work is that initiatives work because they are votes on people opinions on an issue, not their sometimes contradictory partisan feelings. For example in Ohio, the GOP has gerrymandered a 12-6 congressional advantage, based on this one would thing it's a very Republican state. But looking at voter registration one would see that it is really nearly a 50/50 state. Gerrymandering at the state level produces similar results, where the legislature doesn't support laws that reflect public opinion. Polls show American support abortion by 60-40 margins. Polls also show that by 70-30 margins Americans are afraid that too much privacy is being lost. I think we could benefit by conflating the two issues.
Commercial number one
Professional Middle Class Woman talking in her kitchen:
I never really though about the right to privacy, I mean I never will run afoul of the law. I never really could see it affecting me. I have nothing to hide. But now I see with today's technology people are invading people's medical records. The government is getting involved in peoples lives like Terry Shiavo. Companies are selling peoples information, and companies are running credit searches for hiring purposes. I feel there is too much of peoples private information "out there". I may not agree with everything, everyone does in the privacy of his or her own homes. I just think that they have the right to do it!
I think the Democrats have badly underestimated the party building work that initiatives do. Court battles while important don't mobilize like-minded voters. In court battles the only people involved are lawyers and maybe a few hundred fund-raisers. In ballot initiatives door to door campaigning is necessary. These door to door campaigns can also be used to build information on peoples political leanings. People who sign the initiative can be a targeted audience for later political mailings. Door to door campaigning build personal relationships that can come in handy in GOTV operations (remember me, you signed my initiative do you need a ride to the polls?). They also drive populist sentiments. Much of the GOP success has come from tapping into Blue-collar White Male populist sentiments. Much of this is driven by the angst this group feels, in today's society that seems to be leaving them behind. But that is besides the point, tapping populist sentiment, in fact populism itself, is the missing component in too much of today's Democratic Party. The South Dakota legislature vote on banning abortion, which is legal unenforceable because of Roe v. Wade, is about driving Evangelical Populism.
The added bonus to a privacy fight is that generally Conservative judges have been guilty of eroding it.
Most of the legal decisions that let corporations run any search on you that they please, and sell your private information have come from conservative judges.
Commercial number two
A middle aged couple talking
Wife: Honey I'm sick of all these people mailing us credit cards, how did they get our private information?
Husband: Court have ruled that companies have the right to sell much of our private information.
Wife: What kind of Judges would rule that?
Husband: Conservative judges dear. As conservatives have eroded the right to privacy, because of their obsession with abortion, all our other privacy rights have gotten eroded.
Wife; You mean that, they are willing to strip all our privacy rights, just to further their agenda? What's wrong with these people?
Announcer: The right to privacy more it's important than you think!
So what do you think? Can we turn people's fears about a lack of privacy in today's world into a wedge issue?
Should we run State ballot initiatives, for state constitutional amendments on the right to privacy?