Washblog

Protect Marriage Washington is the official ballot committee set up to receive pro-Referendum 71 funds and to be the "voice" of the anti-domestic partnership referendum effort.  Larry Stickney is its campaign manager and Gary Randall is on its board.  Its web site was presumably to be the hub of referendum activity, and its donation page allows you to donate directly to the Protect Marriage Washington PAC.

But today Gary Randall unveiled his own Referendum 71 web page under the banner of the Faith and Freedom Political Action Committee.  It's donation button doesn't take you to the official Protect Marriage Washington fund, but to Gary's Faith & Freedom PAC, which we already know is not dedicated to the referendum.  Nowhere on this page is there a link to anything related to Protect Marriage Washington.  Gary's been quietly playing the fundraising shell game all along, but to set up a whole separate Ref 71 website now, when the petitions are at the printer, seems like a blatant slap in the face to campaign "manager" Larry Stickney and the umbrella organization they're both supposed to be dedicated to.

So what's going on here?  Are Gary Randall and Larry Stickney dividing the spoils, or is this a mutual greedy grab by brats who can't share?  One thing is clear, Gary Randall and Larry Stickney are not cooperating on the referendum effort.  And as Abraham Lincoln so sagely said, a house divided against itself cannot stand.