Petrelis Files

(Gov. Schwarzenegger with Log Cabin president Patrick Sammon on April 11 in San Diego, promising to fight this year's anti-gay proposition. Photo credit: Rex Wockner.)

Call Arnie - Demand He Keep Pledge to Fight Prop 8!

Before you read any further, please pick up the phone right now and call Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's top two political consultants, who serve as his eyes and ears and help him decide which battles to fight. Call Julie Soderlund and Adam Mendelsohn and tell them you want the governor to keep the pledge he made in April to fight the anti-gay-marriage ballot initiative.

Here's the contact info:

Julie Soderlund
Phone: 916-551-1383
Email: jsoderlund@wilsonmillercom.com

Adam Mendelsohn
Phone: 916-444-1380
Email:
amendelsohn@mercuryllc.com

When you call those numbers, you'll get a live receptionist. Please be polite and to the point. Tell them you want to reach Soderlund and Mendelsohn to have them convey to the governor that his muscle and voice are needed to defeat Prop 8. Leave your name and number, and request a call back. Or send a similarly polite email.

A blog at the LA Times site succinctly summed up the problem with Schwarzenegger and Prop 8, with barely two weeks left before the election:

Back in April, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vowed to fight any attempt to pass a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. "I will always be there to fight against that because it should never happen," he told the Log Cabin Republicans at their San Diego convention -- a month before the state Supreme Court recognized the right of gays and lesbians to marry. And after that ruling, the governor again promised to oppose the effort to take away that right -- now known as Proposition 8.

But Schwarzenegger has been awfully quiet about an issue that could use his visible presence. Not that he has switched camps. He just hasn't been showing up to remind Californians that they generally champion expansive civil rights, not the elimination of such rights. He hasn't been around to reassure voters that their churches won't have to conduct same-sex marriages and their preschoolers won't have to attend gay weddings.

He attends rallies for Proposition 11, on redistricting, but is quiet about opposing Prop. 8.

I believe with the right kind of nudging, Arnie will do the right thing, open his mouth and exert some influence to sway voters to vote no on Prop 8.

You've probably donated money to defeat the measure, volunteered for the campaign, urged friends to vote no, and maybe even voted against the prop already.

But please also take a few moments to contact Soderlund and Mendelsohn today, and ask your friends, family and neighbors to do the same. The eyes and ears of the governor need to hear YOUR no on 8 voice today!