I keep getting messages from Democrats who tell me they oppose Prop 16 but are afraid to speak out.

They are professors, party operatives or candidates afraid of retribution.

They feed me data, point me to outrages, ask me to make their points, or just offer encouragement.

This fear by some Democrats of speaking out against the Prop 16 Race Matters brigade reminds me of the recent vote by the California League of Cities refusing to endorse Prop 16.

The policy committee, whose members vote publicly, recommended Yes on Prop 16.

But then...

When the motion to endorse Prop 16 went before the full board of the California League of Cities, board members voted by secret ballot as they usually do. 31 votes were required for the League to endorse.

The result: only 24 Yes votes.

The Race Matters brigade was furious! ...

“There’s a mistake!” they shouted. “We demand a revote, an open and public roll call vote!” they insisted.

The bylaws said that they weren’t entitled to call for a public roll call vote. But they got it anyway.

One by one the board members voted publicly. More YES this time...

But the Race Matters brigade came up exactly 1 vote short of getting the California League of Cities to endorse Prop 16. Only 30 public YES votes with 31 votes required.

It was supposed to go differently! Democrats were supposed to control the League.

Now comes Nov 3.

It may very well be that Proposition 16 is headed for defeat in no small part because a significant number of Democrats still believe this ...

[crowd spontaneously shouting “race doesn’t matter!”]

The story of what happened at the California League of Cities was shared with me by @wu_wenyuan of @CA4equalrights. Wenyuan was present at both the committee meeting and the full board meeting, helping to press members to vote no.