Florida Marriage Advocate Says Anti-Amendment 2 Effort the Dirtiest Campaign He’s ever Seen

The following appeal was written by John Stemberger, director of the Florida Marriage Protection Amendment campaign; you can give to the pro-defense of marriage side HERE:

Dear Friend,

In 25 years of working in campaigns I have never seen greater hostility, illegal activity and just stunning vandalism by the opponents of Amendment 2.

Since I last reported it to you, they are now stooping lower than low.  And tonight at midnight is the legal deadline for you to make a contribution to do something about it.

The most recent poll commissioned by Bay News 9 has us now with 59% of Floridians in support of 2 —only 1% away from the 60% we need to win. And because we are so very close the opposition has become more desperate than ever because even their own fraudulent messages trying to scare senior citizens are not working.  So they are resorting to anything goes –despicable campaigning.

Our opponents are showing absolutely no respect for the law or the rights of others.  I know these words may sound harsh but this is the reality we face.  Here are some examples of what we are facing just in the last week:

1) Open Vandalism, Shameless Stealing and Widespread Destruction of Personal Property:  Around the state, literally thousands of YesOn2 yard signs have been stolen and or vandalized from private homes and offices.  A Fort Lauderdale pastor reported that he and his son where placing yard signs and opponents were coming right behind him and stealing them while he was watching them.  When the pastor went to approach the man he openly mocked him and gave him the finger.  The signs outside our own office headquarters have been replaced 3 times now. A respected elected official who supports Amendment 2 was at an Obama rally in Kissimmee last night handing out our literature and he was spit upon and physically assaulted by the No on 2 homosexual activists who physically tried to run him out of the rally area.

2) Bogus Lawsuit Filed Against the Campaign: In addition to the elections commission complaint they filed last week, the Red and Blue committee also filed on Monday a desperate and frivolous lawsuit against me personally and against the Yes2Marriage.org campaign.  They are trying to ask the courts to take our powerful One Thing TV ads off the air.  The ad is so effective their campaign is now tanking because of it.  With your help we can stop them..

3) Trying to Scare Seniors Again: The opposition groups are running a campaign ad trying to scare senior citizens into thinking they will not be able to see each other in the hospital if amendment 2 passes.  This has nothing to do with the amendment.  All their ads are filled with lies, false claims and deception.

4) Newspapers Have Shut Out Yes on 2 Op Editorials:  Bishop Harry Jackson and I have written an “Open Letter to the NAACP” addressing that group’s failure to protect black Families by not supporting Yes on 2.  We have asked six major daily news papers to consider printing this special opinion piece.  None of the papers has allowed us to print this editorial and some are not even bothering to give a courtesy return call.  Meanwhile, the special lengthy opinion editorials by our opposition are appearing on a daily basis in all of these same papers.

5) Personal Attacks On Me: The attacks on me personally are now at an all time high.  In addition to suing me personally, the Palm Beach Post reported that my computer was hacked last week and shut down.  The Orlando Sentinel columnists instead of debating this issue of whether “gay marriage” is a good idea have instead attacked me personally calling me a “gay basher” and that I “should be feared” because I believe in marriage.  Blogs galore are hurling insults that are too foul to even repeat in public.  There is a whole website page devoted to trying to demonize me.  The hundreds of e-mails and faxes we receive are filled with hatred, intolerance and malice.  It has been difficult on my wife Olivia for sure.

But despite their open hostility and stunning aggression, the good news is we are still on the verge of winning! That’s why the opposition is resorting to such desperate and dirty tactics. We will not be shaken but we must reach even more Floridians with our message in the final days– and to do that we must have a final surge of funds to compete with our opponents and respond to their deceptive ads.

Today Thursday October 30, 2008 before midnight is the final legal deadline to make a contribution to the effort to protect marriage between one man and one woman in Florida.  And we need your best final gift now to help us in these finals days before the big vote.

This is our moment in history. Would you please make one final contribution to this historical effort today to help us ensure victory right now with our secure online paypal HERE?

Thank you for considering this request for an online gift before midnight tonight.

Sincerely,

John Stemberger

PS – Your gift might be the one that puts us over the top in this razor close vote to protect our children by protecting marriage.  Give online HERE: