MINNEAPOLIS—Four years ago, Frank Schubert was a well-paid political consultant for what he jokingly calls "the forces of evil" -- tobacco, timber and pharmaceutical companies -- when he agreed to lead the 2008 campaign to repeal gay marriage in California.
What started as a professional challenge has now become a personal crusade. And Schubert, a specialist in political messaging, has become the central figure in a major effort to stop gay marriage from becoming legal across the country.
Part Karl Rove and part Pat Robertson, Schubert is managing four statewide campaigns where the issue is on the ballot in the fall -- in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington. He's trying to preserve a winning streak in which conservatives have put anti-gay marriage laws on the books in 31 states since 1998.
Schubert said his mission is to make voters understand what's at stake.
"Five thousand years have shown that marriage between a man and a woman serves us well," he said, adding that it is "fundamental to our nature as people." The alternative, he said, is a culture based on personal desires.
Gay rights organizers begrudgingly admire Schubert's ability as much as they detest what he's doing.
"Whether we like it or not, he's done a very good job of tapping into fears people have about homosexuality that are still very real," said Julie Davis, a San Francisco-based GLBT activist.
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