Prop. 8 an expensive battle

The two sides in the Proposition 8 ballot initiative have amassed more than $40 million for media campaigns now playing on California television, but their most important asset might be the huge, volunteer, shoe-leather armies battling over same-sex marriage. Mercury News.

In an election that looks increasingly tight, Dean Merkley, a retired executive and part-time rancher in San Jose, is a member of a volunteer army that hopes to convince Californians to pass a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Darius Ngo, an 18-year-old college student in San Francisco, is among an opposing corps of volunteers who could make the difference on Nov. 4 in whether California becomes only the second state to reject a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.