Newsy numbers in the Proposition 8 scramble

Here’s some fun with numbers, courtesy of the campaigns for and against Proposition 8 campaigns.

The last financial report from ProtectMarriage.Com, the main group backing the ban on same-sex marriage, was so long that the secretary of state’s Web site went “Tilt” like a pinball machine when the Prop. 8 supporters tried to upload it. It took a couple of days before Sacramento techno-geeks could get the report to play nice with the state’s software.

How big was the report, which included tens of thousands of individual contributions? It came in at 5,008 pages. And just how much is that? Well, take a big box of copier paper like you find at an office supply store and put eight sheets of paper on top of that. That also should show why no one, under any circumstances, should hit the print button when reading the report online.

The Yes on Prop. 8 folks are boasting that they have more than 62,000 contributors, nearly twice as many as their opponents. But the “no” side is the winner when it comes to celebrity contributions.

Among the glitterati who’ve pumped money into the campaign are actor Brad Pitt ($100,000), director Steven Spielberg and his actress wife, Kate Capshaw (a combined $100,000), Dreamworks Studio CEO David Geffen ($100,000), actor T.R. Knight ($50,000), financial guru Suze Orman ($10,000), “Milk” director Gus Van Sant ($2,500), “Star Trek” veteran George Takei ($2,500), actress Judith Light ($1,000) and “celebrity blogger” Perez Hilton ($1,000).

Former Santa Barbara GOP Rep. Michael Huffington, who came out as bisexual a few years after losing a tight U.S. Senate race to Democrat Dianne Feinstein in 1994, has given $100,000 to the campaign against Prop. 8. Other political money includes $25,000 from the Democratic National Committee and $25,000 from Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Unions also are opposing Prop. 8, with the state service employees union kicking in $500,000, the California Teachers Association adding $250,000 and a pair of SEIU groups giving a total of $150,000.

Some San Francisco notables also are on the opposition list. Former Ambassador James Hormel, the San Francisco Foundation and PG&E have each given $250,000, while Robert Haas, chairman emeritus of Levi Strauss & Co., gave $100,000.

Donors from outside California also have dropped plenty of cash into the opposition campaign.

Robert Wilson, a philanthropist from Brooklyn, N.Y., has given $1.2 million; Bruce Bastian, an Orem, Utah, software developer has contributed $1 million; David Maltz, a Cleveland investor, has given $1 million; the Gill Action Fund of Denver has given $350,000; and Fred Eychaner, a Chicago media mogul, has contributed $250,000.

On the supporters’ side, out-of-state donors include John Templeton Jr. of Bryn Mawr, Pa., who has given $900,000 to promote Prop. 8, and Elsa Prince of Holland, Mich., who has donated $450,000.

Organizations from outside California also have helped Prop. 8, with the Catholic Knights of Columbus of Hartford, Conn., giving $1.25 million; the American Family Association of Tupelo, Miss., donating $500,000; Concerned Women for America contributing $409,000; and Focus on the Family, a Christian group from Colorado Springs, Co., adding $350,000.

Posted By: John Wildermuth (Email) |
October 15 2008 at 09:30 AM