Washblog

Larry Stickney in Review

We've learned a lot in the past few months about Larry Stickney, the campaign manager for Protect Marriage Washington.  This is the misnamed group trying to repeal of Washington's Domestic Partnership Expansion Law of 2009 via Referendum 71.

Since a lot of what we know about this anti-family activist is scattered across newspaper articles, blog posts and public documents, I thought it worthwhile to begin assembling it in one place, in the form of a link library.  Items are categorized according to my opinion - your mileage may vary.  Be sure to bookmark this page because I will update it as new information becomes available.  Similar reviews of Mr. Stickney's colleagues at Protect Marriage Washington will be forthcoming.

PROFESSIONAL HISTORY
  1.  Listed campaign failures as accomplishments on online resume.
  2.  Managed the 1999 anti-choice I-694 campaign which Washington voters roundly rejected.
  3.  Managed John Koster's 2000 Congressional bid, which Koster lost to the pro-LGBT Democrat Rick Larsen (D-WA02) who still holds the congressional seat almost 10 years later.

MANAGING THE ANTI-DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIPS CAMPAIGN
Media Savvy
  1.  Unprepared to deal with press during major political event.
  2.  Failed to capitalize on free press promotion during major political event.
  3.  Imprudently derided the media.
  4.  Failed to meet own deadline for press release.
  5.  Cultivated baseless impression that non-Seattle media oppose domestic partnerships.

Financial Management Skills
1.  Admitted spending scarce donor money on pointless attack ads against pro-equality legislators in electorally secure seats.

Corporate Management Skills

  1.  Failed to achieve consensus with and cooperation of natural allies.
  2.  Allowed Gary Randall to misdirect campaign donations into the PAC of his Oregon-based organization rather than into the dedicated referendum PAC, even after the fundraising widget on the campaign web site finally became functional.
  3.  Failed to organize major campaign endorser Joseph Backholm to promote the referendum on Backholm's weekly radio broadcast.
  4.  Failed to keep campaign website current.
  5.  Lost control of organization as major co-sponsor Gary Randall confusingly set up parallel web site and continued to misdirect donations into the PAC of his Oregon-based organization, which is not the official referendum PAC.  Failed to explain confusing development to supporters.

Honesty and Truthfulness
  1.  Misrepresented the truth repeatedly about pending legislation and existing law.
  2.  Ran deceptive t.v. ads which claimed that the domestic partnership expansion bill would "redefine marriage" and lead to "teaching that gay marriage is normal and healthy in public schools."
  3.  Obfuscated differences between referenda and initiatives allegedly to avoid admitting why an initiative to completely repeal all domestic partnerships would be unpalletable to Washington voters. (see item 2 on linked page)
  4.  Failed to inform supporters of severe time constraints on and higher signature requirements for referenda this year.  (see item 2 on linked page)
  5.  Ignored the fact that the Washington State Supreme Court has already ruled that the state DOMA law is constitutional. (see item 3 on linked page)
  6.  Admited a reliance on voter confusion to win his campaign. (see item 5 on linked page)
  7.  Perpetrated untruthful feel-good claptrap when saying that a referendum would not take anything away from anyone. (see item 7 on linked page)
  8.  Paded endorsement list with multiple entries, one-person "organizations", tiny fringe groups and individuals who have publicly trashed the referendum campaign.

Follow-through
  1.  Failed to meet own deadline for press release.
  2.  Failed to fulfill promises to supporters repeatedly.

Knowledgability
  1.  Pretended that the Washington State Supreme Court hasn't already ruled that the state DOMA is constitutional. (see item 3 on linked page)
  2.  Demonstrated ignorance of the 1st Amendment repeatedly. (see item 4 on linked page)
  3.  Demonstrated ignorance of the chronology of Washington state lawmaking. (see item 4 on linked page)
  4.  Confused "liberty" and "tyranny" (see final item on linked page).
  5.  Showed understanding that voters are increasingly pro-equality. (see item 8 on linked page)

Judgment
  1.  Promoted on campaign web page an allegedly delusional zealot sure to offend the average voter.
  2.  Went live with a non-functional donor web page.
  3.  Embarrassed the campaign by featuring a Twitter account on the campaign web page that Board members and major endorsers never bothered to subscribe to.
  4.  Wasted precious petition time by waiting the maximal time possible before challenging the referendum ballot language.
  5.  Displayed gross incompetence by dropping the challenge to the referendum ballot language before the challenge process was complete.
  6.  Admited vested interest in volunteers remaining unemployed "during these rough economic times". (see item 9 on linked page)
  7.  Ran a referendum campaign to repeal a law supported by a super-majority of voters, making it a "goldmine" for membership-building for the pro-equality organization Equal Rights Washington.
  8.  Included three problematic legislators on his organization's board.  Rep. Shea is divorced, Sen Swecker promoted state subsidies for radical-right fringe organizations he belongs to and Rep. McCune is viewed by reasonable people to be zany.
  9.  Distracted himself from job at hand with concurrent high-paying political job working for John Koster.

PERSONAL HISTORY
  1.  Married thrice, divorced twice.
  2.  Served with a restraining order after allegations of wife battering.

QUOTES
  1.  Marriage equality "will demolish the historical understanding and definition of marriage as that of uniting a man and a woman for life."
  2.  "[T]he happiness and well-being of both the parents and the children are best served by the family unit."
  3.  "[Estranged wife No. 2, Cheryl] was born with a silver spoon and is very feminist in her outlook and has been depressed for years with her lot in life (raising children, married to a middle class working man etc..), and subsequently lacks respect and is very rebellious towards me and refuses to give me the authority and support I, as a the father of our two small children need to run a functional household."  --L. Stickney in response to a request for restraining order served him by the Superior Court of Washington.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

RELATED STORIES
Pam's House Blend and Washblog by Lurleen

The Stranger by Dominic Holden
The Stranger blog by Dominic Holden or Dan Savage
< Referendum 71 Board Member Contemplates Quitting | Ron Boehme: Calling All Carpetbaggers! >
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+ campaign manager
+ Domestic Partnership Expansion Law of 2009
+ Listed campaign failures
+ resume
+ roundly rejected
+ pro-LGBT
+ Rick Larsen
+ Unprepared
+ Failed to capitalize
+ Imprudentl y
+ Failed to meet own deadline
+ Cultivated baseless impression
+ Admitted
+ attack ads
+ Failed
+ cooperatio n
+ misdirect campaign donations
+ even after
+ Failed to organize major campaign endorser
+ Failed [2]
+ current
+ Lost control of organization
+ Misreprese nted
+ repeatedly
+ deceptive t.v. ads
+ claimed
+ Obfuscated
+ unpalletab le
+ Failed [3]
+ Ignored
+ ruled
+ Admited
+ Perpetrate d
+ Paded endorsement list
+ Failed to fulfill promises
+ repeatedly [2]
+ Pretended
+ Demonstrat ed ignorance
+ repeatedly [3]
+ Confused
+ Showed understanding
+ Promoted on campaign web page
+ non-functi onal
+ Embarrasse d the campaign
+ Wasted precious petition time
+ gross incompetence
+ Admited vested interest
+ supported by
+ super-majo rity
+ "goldmine"
+ Equal Rights Washington
+ problemati c
+ divorced
+ subsidies
+ zany
+ Distracted
+ high-payin g
+ John Koster
+ Married thrice, divorced twice
+ restrainin g order
+ Marriage equality
+ [T]he happiness
+ "[Estrange d wife No. 2, Cheryl]
+ Would You Give Larry Stickney Your Money?
+ The Washington Hate Coalition: What a Bunch of Whiners
+ Ten Rationalizations for Running a Doomed Referendum Against Domestic Partnerships
+ Larry Stickney's Referendum off to a Bumbling Start
+ Larry Stickney's Referendum 71 Has No Support from its Natural Allies
+ Protect Marriage Washington Pads its Endorsement List
+ Bat. Shit. Crazy.
+ Washington Newspapers: Domestic Partnerships Good, Ref 71 Bad
+ A Simple Question for Gary Randall &amp; Larry Stickney
+ Still Waiting for an Answer, Fellas
+ Nobody Can Hear Larry Stickney Tweet
+ I Did Not See This Coming
+ Rinky-Dink Minister Count Upped to Five!
+ Not Good for Donor Morale
+ Larry Stickney, Always a Beat Behind
+ A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand
+ Are Gary Randall and Larry Stickney Capable of Keeping a Promise?
+ The Gary and Larry Chronicles: Numerical Update Edition
+ Protect Marriage Washington's BWAKing Points
+ Last Gasp
+ Heavy-Hand ed
+ Know Thy Enemy
+ Stickney to Attempt Repealing Domestic Partnership Bill
+ Just One Day
+ Governor's Inaction Stalls Homophobic Referendum
+ "This is Probably Our Opponents Worst Nightmare"
+ Three Lawmakers Join Anti-Gay Campaign
+ Gregoire Speaks
+ Time Running Out For Bigots
+ Heavy Handed
+ Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha
+ Their Own Worst Enemies
+ Who's Going to Challenge Referendum 71
+ Stickney Withdraws Lawsuit
+ The People I'm Persecuting Are So MEAN!
+ Have You Seen It?
+ Lurleen's Diary

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