I was interviewed yesterday for a CBS News "The Early Show" piece on same-sex marriage that appeared this morning. With the recent legalization of such marriages in Iowa (by a unanimous Iowa state supreme court) and in Vermont (by the legislature), there is a sense of momentum around the cause of marriage equality. I'm not that optimistic. The politics even of reversing the federal ban on recognition of such marriages is too dangerous even for a Democratic Congressional majority and a Democratic president who know such a ban is wrong. And some two dozen states have bans on the books. so the process of unwinding such bans could take a decade or more, despite public opinion that is shifting in the direction of same-sex marriage.

The CBS producer asked me a good question: what would it take to speed up the process? Having more courts and legislatures in more states legalize such marriages would help, but that's a slow path. For progress, same-sex marriage supporters need to start winning ballot initiative elections and soon. In fact, I wonder if the quickest path to widespread recogntion of same-sex marriage would be to pick a big fight in a key swing state that has the initiative process.

Ohio's attorney general blocked the first proposed summary language for a statewide ballot initiative that would permit the opening of four casinos in that state. The proponents submitted new language, and now the a.g. has signed off, Business First of Columbus reports.

What's next? Ohio is one of a handful of places with a ballot board, which must review and approve initiatives before they go on the ballot.

Animal rights groups, in particular the Humane Society of United States, have a second-to-none record of winning ballot initiatives. In Ohio, such groups are considering an initiative to ban dog auctions.

What's the problem with dog auctions? As the Columbus Dispatch explains, animal rights groups claim dog breeders keep dogs in terrible conditions and force dogs to have too many puppies. Your blogger is not a dog guy (I still have nightmares from my early childhood, when I lived in Hong Kong and was periodically chased by wild dogs that had been abandoned to the streets), but he predicts: dogs make good copy and TV, so this is one ballot initiative that would have no troubles attracting media attention.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Ohio today, campaigning for and with John McCain. People have been asking me: why? It's a good question. The governor has nice things to say about Obama (even suggesting he might work for a President Obama someday), disagrees with McCain and the national Republican party on issues, and likes to associate himself with winners, not losers.

The answer boils down to two words: habit and loyalty. The governor of California is a creature of habit. In 1988 and 2004, Schwarzenegger campaigned in Columbus, Ohio -- where he has business interests, including a share in a suburban shopping mall and an annual fitness convention and bodybuilding tournament known as The Arnold -- on the Friday before election day. This year, he goes again to central Ohio the Friday before election.

But the other motivating factor is loyalty. Schwarzenegger doesn't get much credit for being loyal; he's generally thought of by people in the political sphere as more than a little disloyal. But in his personal relationships, he's remarkably loyal. His friends today were his friends 20 years ago. And McCain has been very loyal to him. The weekend before the special election in 2005 ,when it was clear to everyone (except perhaps the hyper-optimistic Schwarzenegger) that his initiatives were going to lose, McCain flew to California and rode on Schwarzenegger's campaign bus through the Inland Empire. McCain backed Schwarzenegger when the governor was in political trouble. Today, Arnold returns the favor.

The payday loan industry in Ohio is seeking a referendum on a new law regulating the industry. A key feature of the law is a 28 percent limit on the interest rates they can charge their borrowers. (Under current practice, rates can be as high as 391 percent). The industry turned in referendum signatures Sunday afternoon. If enough prove to be valid (and there appears to be quite a cushion, 421,000 turned in to make a standard of 241,000), the measure will be on the November ballot.

Gov. Ted Strickland of Ohio, a Democrat, has come out against a ballot initiative that would require Ohio businesses to offer seven paid sick days a year to employees who work 30 hours a week. This is a big blow to the measure, which is backed by SEIU. And it complicates any effort by Barack Obama to organize around the issue in order to boost turnout in a big swing state this fall.

Ohio has one of the tighest deadlines for collecting signatures on an initiative or referendum petition -- 90 days. But there's a problem. Each measure requires the attorney general to issue a summary. But there's no legal requirement on the attorney general to produce such summaries in a timely manner. An AG could delay and delay -- running out the 90-day clock for collecting signatures. In an editorial, The Cleveland Plain-Dealer says this is wrong.

Payday lenders in Ohio, who want to reverse a new state law regulating imposing a 28 percent limit on the interest they may charge, have finally received the go-ahead to collect signatures on a referendum. But the state attorney general is warning that if the referendum should pass, discrepancies between the petition and the law could cause legal confusion. In fact, it appears that if the payday measure passes, two different numerical limits on the interest in such loans would be enshrined in state law.

One unfortunate growth industry in recent years has been the rise of alternative financial institutions. These are the payday lenders, auto title companies, and check cashers who offer access to cash to virtually anyone that walks through their doors but on horrific terms. I mean really bad.

Payday lenders often charge about $15 for every $100 borrowed on a two-week loan. This would be equivalent to an annual interest rate is approaches 400%. It is an outlandish deal that many people take because they feel like they dont have other options. The problem is that many people in America don't have basic bank accounts, so they conduct their everyday financial transactions with these stores just move their money around. Our colleagues at the Center for Responsible Lending have been committed to ending these abusive practices and are working with people all across the country to change the state laws that govern these transactions. The need for the service is real but the terms are criminal. There ought to be a law...

UPDATED APRIL 4 After two nights of contacting gatherers and reading initiatives from all over the country (AND SOME EXCELLENT CORRECTIONS ON ARKANSAS AND MICHIGAN FROM Ballotpedia), here's my report on what's "on the street" and circulating in this great democratic land of ours. Please let me know if you think I'm missing important measures. For a more progressive take and focus, you can look at the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center's issues map.