Tate: Voters' Sense of Fairness will Help Defeat "Defense of Marriage" Amendment

Jeff Mayers of WisPolitics interviews Mike Tate. Mr. Tate had

been state director of Howard Dean's Wisconsin campaign and a top official in America Coming Together in the state. He also recently ran Joe Wineke's winning campaign for Democratic Party chairman.

He now manages the campaign against the Wisconsin "Defense of Marriage" amendment.

Mayers: Do you have an alternative amendment or proposal or do you think the law should just stay the way things are?

Tate: I don't think that Wisconsin voters think that we should ban civil unions, domestic partnership benefits ...

Mayers: But there's not civil unions ...

Tate: No there's not. But this amendment would prevent that from ever happening. ...

Mayers: Is this about instituting civil unions like in Vermont?

Tate: No.

Mayers: But you’re sort of holding out that as a possibility, right?

Tate: We're not campaigning for civil unions with this effort. But what we're campaigning for is equality and fairness. ...