Maine: No on 1 Taking Lead & The Opposition Is Now Throwing Everything INCLUDING the Kitchen Sink at LGBT Families

Well, we have some good news and some bad news to report in Maine today. First, let's start off with some good news. Maine Public Broadcasting just got the hot new Pan-Atlantic poll numbers.

Pan Atlantic's Patrick Murphy says the survey of 400 likely voters found 53 percent opposing Question 1, which would repeal Maine's gay marriage law, while 42 percent favor the measure and six percent remain undecided. [Empahasis mine.] The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percent.

Murphy says Question 1 is getting a different reaction in Maine's two congressional districts, with voters in the 1st District favoring the measure by a 20 point spread, while voters in the 2nd District remain nearly equally divided. He says among the state's Catholic voters, the measure has a narrow margin of support, 49 to 46 percent.

Obviously, ads like this one are working.



And better yet, the campaign actually has an active field program that's contacting voters all over the state and rounding up enough votes against Question 1 to win. And even better, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree and other pro-equality elected officials in Maine are stepping up to help with GOTV efforts! With such great work on the ground and on the air, no wonder why No on 1 is gaining momentum!

Still, we can't sit by idly and revel in this success. Nope, since the same Yes on H8 operatives who attacked California's LGBT families last year are now throwing everything INCLUDING the kitchen sink at Maine's LGBT families! NOM is already kicking in another $1.1 million to take away fundamental rights from many thousands of Mainers, and they're ready to spend even more on some of the most disgusting and hateful ads you've ever seen.

Oh, and how fitting is it that NOM's bringing out the vilest of scare tactics just in time for Halloween?

This is why I need to ask you one more time to step up and help No on 1 make it to the finish line succesfully. Donate what you can afford and/or sign up to call for equality while you still can We only have one more week until Election Day, so we have no time to waste!

Trust me, we can win this. We can make sure that Maine families are protected. We can stop the forces of bigotry from causing any more pain and suffering in any more states. We can win if we step up and take action!

So will you join me in taking action? I hope so. Let's make it to that finish line.

Maine: It's a Tie??!!

Public Policy Polling has released its Maine numbers today. And if they're to be believed, Question 1 is completely up in the air.

Public opinion on Question 1 in Maine, which would reject the state's law allowing same sex couples to marry, is knotted up two weeks before election day. 48% of voters in the state support it and 48% oppose it.

With most voters' minds made up the election is not really about persuasion at this point but turnout. Even a small difference in the ability of supporters and opponents of the referendum to get their folks out to the polls could tip the scales with the issue this close.

PPP says it can't get any closer. It was an automated (robodial) poll, so I guess it's to be expected that their numbers would be different from the live call polls' results. We can argue over whose method produces more accurate results, but ultimately all the polls point to a close race. No matter what, we have our work cut out for us.

And as PPP said, the race ultimately turns to turnout.

Opinion on the issue predictably breaks heavily along party lines. 74% of Republicans
are planning to vote yes while only 25% of Democrats are. Independents may end up
deciding which way it goes- presently 50% of them support rejecting the law with 44% in
opposition.

Older voters are strongest in their support of cutting off gay marriage. 54% are in
support with 40% opposed. Senior citizens can often dominate the electorate in low
turnout elections so the ultimate fate of this measure may lie in how many younger
people get out to the polls and vote.

This is expected to be a low turnout election. And unfortuantely, Republicans and older voters have a history of dominating these low turnout special elections. We can't let history repeat itself this time. We need to help No on 1 turn out the votes to defeat the marriage ban!

The campaign still needs volunteers to help round up votes for marriage equality. If you're close enough to Maine and have enough time to take a little "road trip", why not consider driving for equality? And for all the rest of us who are too far away and/or too busy to go to Maine in person, we can still help by signing up to call for equality.

And of course, we can still help the campaign build up its "get out the vote" effort by funding it! The campaign still needs our support as they put TV and radio ads on the air, and as they go door to door all over the state to turn out the vote. Our support can go a long way and be the deciding factor in victory next month.

Election Day is drawing near. The poll numbers can't be any closer. Please do whatever you can to protect marriage equality in Maine and stop the forces of hatred from attacking any more LGBT families.

Maine: More Lies from the Bigots

Already, the liars are back with an even more outrageous lie.



They just won't stop. Even though Maine's Attorney General has declared this a lie, they keep at it. They know what they say are lies, so they're just following the old KKKarl Rove tactic of saying it enough until people believe it.

Unfortunately it worked in California, so the Yes on H8/Yes on 1 radical right Californicators are trying to do it again in Maine. We can't let them succeed. No on 1 has already done some great ads to fight back...





But they obviously have more work to do to fight the lies and get the truth out. We still have time to help them, so let's make sure they have enough resources to keep fighting. The forces of inequality know this is their last chance to stop progress, so they're throwing everything including the kitchen sink at us. We all know the story of California, so let's make sure it isn't repeated in Maine.

We know how this homophobic H8 campaign hurt millions of California families, so Maine's LGBT families need to be defended. Please help make calls this weekend and please donate whatever you can to make protect equality and fundamental civil rights for Maine's LGBT families.

Maine: Today's the Day!

Remember what I told you yesterday?



Today's the day for the Big Maine Moneybomb for Equality! Now GIVE, GIVE, GIVE as much as you can! We're so close to winning marriage equality in Maine, but No on 1 can't do it without our help. Please give what you can today so we can see victory in Maine on November 3.

Thanks. :-)

Maine: No on 1 Has Small Lead, But the Race is STILL CLOSE!

We have some good news today on the Maine front.

According to new poll data, 51.8 percent of people who plan to vote in November say they will vote no or are leaning in that direction on question 1, the people’s veto of Maine’s same-sex marriage law.

The poll shows that 42.9 percent plan to vote yes, or are leaning that way. And 5.2 percent remain undecided.A “no” vote would allow the same-sex marriage law to stand. A “yes” vote would overturn the law.

The poll was from Portland-based Pan Atlantic SMS Group, which released its fall Omnibus Poll today. [..] According to Pan Atlantic, the survey is of 401 Mainers who identified themselves as “likely” voters in the Nov. 3 election. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.9 percent at the 95 percent confidence level.

So either we have quite a tiny lead or we're starting to see a larger lead. But most likely, No on 1 is leading by just under 9%. Folks, that's still too close for comfort.

And Gerald at Dirigo Blue has the internals. While we're holding our own in the more progressive Portland based 1st District (only 34.2% voting Yes on 1), we're still being clobbered in the more conservative 2nd District up north (51.8% voting Yes on 1). And when leaners are taken out, we just have 50.6% knowing for sure they will vote No on 1.

So basically, we still have a lot of work to do. The No on 1 ads are clearly working in turning around public opinion, but now we need to focus on turning out the No on 1 vote. By the way, here's the latest No on 1 ad that's turning on the waterworks for my eyes.



Here's another recent ad fighting back against blatant Yes on 1 lies.



Now if we want to keep seeing ads like this on the air, we need to donate so the No on 1 campaign can afford it. And if we want to help the campaign turn out the No on 1 votes needed to win, we need to volunteer for virtual phone banking! There's just no getting around it. We can't afford to be lazy.

Remember this time last year? Remember when all of a sudden, what was thought to be an "easy win" for No on 8 California suddenly became a losing campaign? Do we really want to see a repeat of that in Maine? Let's remember that the very same people who ran the disgustingly deceptive and hateful Yes on H8 California campaign are doing it again this year in Maine. There's nothing they won't consider doing to trip us up and steal away our civil rights.

As I've said before, I'm sick and tired of seeing LGBT families being kicked around like political footballs. I'm also sick and tired of hateful idiots trying to capitalize on "momentum" in Washington and Maine to spread the discrimination to states like mine... And here in Nevada, we'll only be trying to protect domestic partnerships! So don't think what happens in Maine won't affect you, as they may already be planning to hit your state next!

Again, this is why we must keep fighting. No matter what the poll numbers say, this will be a hard fought race all the way to the last minute before polls close on November 3. So please, please remember to donate what you can through tomorrow to ensure No on 1 has what it takes to win!



Thanks.

On Cutting Through the Lies

Have you seen the new blatantly false Yes on 1 ad?



Oh OK, that wasn't really it. But seriously, Jackie Beat would have SO MUCH FUN spoofing the real one! Yes, it's really that lame.

But unfortunately, more and more of these blatantly false ads are going on the air thanks to major donations from the religious right. It's become increasingly obvious that the same folks who ran Yes on H8 in California are using the exact same dirty tricks to strip marriage equality away from the people of Maine. And as this becomes clear, we need to realize not to make the same mistakes that led to Prop H8's passage.

We can't just ignore the attacks from the religious right. We can't let them goad us into ridiculous arguments over things have have nothing to do with marriage equality. We can't let them distract and bamboozle the Maine electorate into total confusion just like they did in California.

Simply put, the pro-equality campaign needs to get on the offensive and stay on the offensive. We need to point out what would happen if Yes on 1 succeeds. We need to tell the real stories of real families that will be hurt of Question 1 passes.

State Rep. Emily Cain (D-Orono) did a great job of explaining this in today's Bangor Daily News.

This referendum is about children and families, but I disagree with Rev. [Bob] Emrich's assessment of what is at stake. For Emrich [more about this guy here], gender and sexual orientation determine who will be a good parent. In fact, every reputable children's advocacy organization agrees that love and support are what children need most. As Dr. Daniel Summers of the American Academy of Pediatrics testified at the April hearing in Augusta: It is the quality of parenting that predicts children's psychological and social adjustment, not the parents' sexual orientation or gender. He added that children raised by same-sex couples do not differ in any important respect from those raised by heterosexual parents.

All Maine people love their children. But in his crusade to deny marriage equality to thousands of Mainers, Rev. Emrich completely ignores the rights, responsibilities and protections that marriage automatically bestows on couples and on their children. Do we really want to deny these benefits to any Maine child because his or her parents are a same-sex couple? [...]

There are thousands of loving same-sex couples in Maine who have made commitments to one another, many for decades. Marriage equality honors these commitments and acknowledges them under the law. Without marriage equality, Maine law does not recognize these couples as a legal pair. They cannot file taxes jointly, access health insurance as a family or inherit property when one partner dies without the hardship of crushing taxes.

Contrary to Rev. Emrich's apocalyptic view, marriage equality will make Maine families stronger, extend vital rights and protections to the children of the couples who marry and uphold core Maine values of fairness, equality and personal freedom. Let's not forget Massachusetts. New government statistics show Massachusetts with the lowest divorce rate in the country, down to 2 divorces per 1,000 residents, a drop from 2.2 before 2004 when same-sex couples began marrying. This is down to pre-World War II levels. Obviously, the dire predictions about the downfall of society have not come to pass and thousands of families there are stronger as a result.

Now this is what I'm talking about! And already, the No on 1 campaign is wasting no time getting on the air to tell the truth about marriage equality!





This is what's motivating me to do whatever I can to help protect marriage equality in Maine. I also hope this is inspiring you to join me on my online walk for equality in Maine by donating whatever you can to No on 1. The campaign wants to air additional ads to counter the radical right lies, but they need to have the money in hand by tomorrow to make it happen. We have no time to waste in ensuring No on 1 has the resources necessary to cut through Yes on 1's BS and tell the truth to Maine voters!

Btw, hot off the presses, here's No on 1's new response ad!



So please, please join me in this online walk for equality in Maine by donating whatever you can to make sure No on 1 can stay on the air with ads like these and make the voter contacts needed to turn out the vote in November! Thanks.