Bio:
I am a student, an activist, and a blogger. I enjoy good books ,great music, and new adventures. Of course, I am also a hard-core progressive Democrat… I'm trying my best to support great candidates and push forward great ideas.
Remember that other election happening next Tuesday? You know, the one in Washington? The one where domestic partnerships are up for a popular vote?
Yes, you heard me right. Domestic partnerships are now at risk in Washington. There’s only one week left until Election Day, and the time is now to get working to protect Washington’s 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.
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.
(I just arrived in Maine, will have more on this tomorrow. In an off-year election when youth turnout is difficult, Andrew’s right that this thing isn’t done yet – promoted by Adam Bink)
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.
However, there’s a way we can stop it before it really starts. We can help our friends and family in Washington state Approve Referendum 71 so that we send a message to the forces of bigotry out West that we won’t allow any more of their H8!
Those first few days were the worst. I was scared. I was depressed. I felt less than human.
Prop H8 had passed in California. And even though I didn’t have any immediate marriage plans, I nonetheless felt like all my future hopes and dreams were ripped away from me. I didn’t know what to do… Until I got active in working to undo the damage.
Yet even though I’m seeing progress in my new home state, I still have raw feelings about what happened in California last fall. I still have wounds that are only starting to heal.
Thankfully, No on 1 didn’t pull any punches in calling out the ugly and baseless lies that have simply been recycled from Massachusetts and California by the same far right Republican consultants that ran Yes on H8 in California. Still, they need our help to keep these ads on the air so that the truth isn’t drowned out by Yes on H8/Yes on 1’s lies.
Please donate whatever you can to help keep this and other No on 1 ads on the air in Maine. You can also help by signing up to volunteer. The poll numbers are very close, so every dollar and/or hour donated helps!
Despite the recent attacks on LGBT Mainers, No on 1 is still within a striking distance of victory. However, it will obviously take a lot of work to overcome this deficit and finish out on top. The Yes on 1 anti-equality campaign is already starting the “scare campaign”, and we need to be ready to fight back and win.
If this doesn’t inspire you, I don’t know what will.
Yes, I know this is Maine. But remember, this can happen anywhere. It happened here in Nevada. It happened in California. It happened in Oregon. It happened in Arizona. It’s happened in states all over the place, but now we have a chance to turn the tide in Maine.
He finally called a lie a lie. Good on him. It may not stop the Republicans from lying some more, but maybe there’s a chance that crap like “DEATH PANELS!!!!!” and “GOVERNMENT TAKEOVER!!!!!!” stop gaining traction.
Policy: C+
Yes, he finally said “public option”… But then caved some by remaining “open” to co-op craps and never-to-be-enforced “triggers”. And worse, he called on Congressional Democrats to be ready to cave in as well. I hope they ignore those sentences from him. And hopefully, Obama himself isn’t all that serious in selling out his progressive base AND the chance for real health care reform for a few feel-good “we’ll say there’s no more preexisting condition discrimination, but let the HMOs continue to do whatever they want” thirty pieces of silver.
OK, I did it. I found a way to get to the President and write to him on health care. I was just told by a friend that [email protected] is the best way to write to President Obama. OFA staff actually read the emails that go there, and forward them on up. And since [email protected] is the same email OFA uses to send fundraising requests and other “asks” in support of President Obama’s agenda, they can immediately tell that you are a donor and/or volunteer.
So I just wrote my letter. I’ll post it below if you need inspiration. But please, please, please write your own letter and make sure you send it before tomorrow’s big health care speech! There is still time to make sure our voices don’t get drowned out in the health care debate.
(And btw, send copies to your Senators and House members as well!)
This fall, Maine will face a special election. And no, this isn’t just any special election. Once more, LGBT families are under attack. This time, the same H8ful forces that stripped millions of Californians of their Constitutional rights want to do the same evil thing in Maine.
This must stop. We must stop the radical right’s assault on LGBT families, and we have a chance to do so in Maine this year.
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