Conservative activists are trying to use ballot initiatives as a means of energizing base voters who are lackadaisical about likely GOP presidential nominee John McCain, according to a prominent liberal activist.

"The right-wing leaders and activists are desperate, and their leaders and activists are trying to use ballot gimmicking to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat," said Kristina Wilfore, executive director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, during an address before the Take Back America conference in Washington.

Wilfore highlighted a range of ballot initiatives nationwide she said conservatives plan to exploit, including abortion, same-sex marriage, anti-tax measures and anti-affirmative action proposals.

"Social issues -- they're the dog whistle to their base," said Wilfore, who posited that these ballot initiatives serve as wedge issues that force Democrats to divert money and force candidates to define themselves in stark ways. She said these types of ballot initiatives "don't vastly increase turnout," but could make a significant difference in certain tightly-contested races.

In her slideshow presentation, Wilfore gave a roundup of individuals she sees as particularly egregious ballot offenders. She discussed Ward Connerly, an anti-affirmative action activist who is black, whom Wilfore said is "no more than a pawn of the right-wing agenda."

Wilfore also singled out Patrick Byrne, the CEO of Overstock.com who vigorously lobbied for a failed voucher initiative in Utah and later said of minority students who fail to graduate from high school: "You may as well burn those kids. That's the end of their life. That's the end of their ability to achieve in this society if they do not get a high school education. You might as, just throw the kids away."

Wilfore also pointed to anti-union activist Richard Berman and ballot initiative guru Howard Rich.

"They're very extreme," Wilfore said. "They're not good people."

Wilfore said her group on Wednesday is launching a Web site, stopballotfraud.org, to combat what she sees as illegal and unethical tactics for promoting ballot initiatives.

-- Carrie Sheffield, Web editor, The Washington Times