🚀 go-pugleaf

LaVonne Carlson wrote:

> Did Amendment 17 pass, and do you know the breakdown in votes?  (This
> appeared on my newsreader today, one day after the elections.)
> 
> LaVonne
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The amendment did NOT pass, but I'm not sure of the breakdown.  You
might want to check on  http://www.electionline.com  (I think that's
right!!). There's a link from http://www.abc.com  or nbc.com - one or
the other.

Stephanie

*******and of course, right after I started sending this, I saw the post
from Chris...good timing! So, if you haven't seen it on the group yet,
here it is.
***********************************8

In what local pundits are calling the biggest surprise upset of
the Colorado General Election, Amendment 17, the "Parental Rights
Amendment" lost, 57% to 43% in Tuesday's balloting.  The measure, which
would have created an inalienable right of parents "to direct and
control
the upbringing, education, values and discipline of their children," had
been running approval ratings as high as 70% in the polls in the weeks
leading up to the election, and still held a commanding lead days
before. 

        97% of the funding to promote and place this initiative on the
ballot came from a single out-of-state Religious Right organization, Of
The People, who announced that Colorado would be a "test state" for this
type of constitutional amendment, which it intends to push nation-wide. 
Caught off-guard, opponents were slow to respond and organize.  TV spots
opposing the amendment did not begin airing until a few days before the
election.  The November 6th _Rocky Mountain News_ reported: 

         "Television and radio ads run by Amendment 17 opponents the 
week before the election hammered home the message that the amendment's 
vague language was deceptive and dangerous and could complicate child 
abuse investigations and prosecutions and turn schools into ideological 
battlegrounds, experts say.
        "'Opponents were able to mount a very, very effective campaign, 
raising a number of issues and questions about the amendment that took 
away the victory,' pollster Paul Talmey said.
        "Opponents, united under the Protect Our Children Coalition,
grew 
from 80 groups in early September to more than 150 by election time.  
Among their ranks were the state's district attorneys and county 
sheriffs, as well as teachers, doctors, nurses, parents, child-advocacy 
groups, and clergy."

        Locally, the "Parental Rights Amendment" was brought to us by
the
same faction which pushed through Colorado's notorious "Amendment 2"
several years back.  Amendment 2, which passed, explicitly denied civil
rights protections to gay people statewide.  Before it was struck down
by
the US Supreme Court as unconstitutional, Amendment 2 resulted in a
tourist boycott which cost Colorado millions of dollars, subjected us to
years of costly litigation, and made us the target of national scorn as
"the Hate State."  Coloradans are apparently more wary now of Religious 
Right zealots bearing "gifts" of this nature. 

Chris