Playing Dirty

One of the issues with the battle over Proposition 8—its title—is summarized well by the Modesto Bee. There's another report at Mercury news.

http://www.modbee.com/opinion/state/dan_walters/story/377159.html
Excerpt:

"Brown's action is reminiscent of the misleading and biased title and summary he issued for a February ballot measure to modify legislative term limits that obscured its true impact. And it's likely that Brown altered Proposition 8's title language either at the behest of gay rights groups opposed to Proposition 8 or to curry favor with them, with the likely motivation that Brown wants to run for governor in 2010 and helping defeat Proposition 8 would help him win the Democratic nomination."

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_10034736
Excerpt:

"One veteran political observer charged that Brown's possible run for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination was a factor in the ballot language.

"It's clear to me that what Jerry Brown is trying to do is deliver for a political group that is crucial to his election for governor," said Tony Quinn, a political analyst with historic ties to Republicans who called Brown's phrasing "unethical." "The title ought to be 'Marriage,' or 'Rules Regarding Marriage,' - something that is clearly neutral in its language," Quinn said. "If you had a very conservative attorney general and he had a title to Proposition 4" - a constitutional amendment that would require a waiting period before the termination of a minor's pregnancy - "that said, 'Saves the Lives of the Unborn,' or something like that, you'd have howling from the liberal side.""