Gay marriage debate: Brace for a 15-month brawl

[w8liftinglady]

http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/127981928.html

Unions have waded in. Volunteers are being prepped to work at the State Fair. And e-mails and fundraising appeals are flying.

A full 15 months before Minnesota voters decide whether to cement a ban against same-sex marriage into the state Constitution, the campaign over the amendment is already heating from a simmer to a full boil.

Groups on both sides of the proposed amendment have ramped up their fundraising machinery -- amid suggestions the campaign could top $10 million -- and have boosted their efforts to enlist armies of volunteers.

But the organizing faces two daunting realities: Extravagant gushers of cash and ground troops have had little effect on voters in other states, and anti-amendment groups have been largely ineffective elsewhere in preventing the measures from passing.