Update: In the short one hour since I posted this, there has been an overwhelming out-pour of support in the netroots. Over 112 people took the initiative to go our website and donate to Protect Maine Equality. I just want to underscore the need for donations. To keep these TV ads on the air and fund our field operation, we need you to donate. You can either use Markos' Orange to Blue link or donate on our website.
On behalf of No on 1/Protect Marriage Equality, I want to thank Markos and the DailyKos community for adding our campaign to Orange to Blue.
Earlier this week, the Secretary of State certified the election. But, we’ve really been gearing up for the battle for months and years. Maine has been through statewide elections on LGBT equality issues before. In 2005, I managed the campaign against a people’s veto of the new law adding sexual orientation and gender identity to our human rights act. We won 54% - 46%.
I’m a lifelong Mainer and I do believe the people of this state are inherently fair-minded. But, Markos is right:
A victory here for the forces of equality would be fantastic momentum heading into new equality battles in places like California and New York in the coming years.
Our opponents know that, too, which is why they’ll do everything possible to defeat us. The campaign against marriage equality includes the same cast of characters who won in California on Prop. 8 last year. They’re even using the same campaign consultants: Schubert-Flint. If we know one thing about that group, it’s that they know where to find the resources to fund their anti-gay campaigns.
This year, in Maine, we’re already on the air with two ads, which can be seen here and here. We’ve also got a very aggressive field operation underway. We have twenty field organizers on the ground across the state. And, Maine isn’t California. We expect turnout to be around 500,000 and we’re doing the work now to identify enough voters to win.
One other thing about Maine is that we have among the most liberal voting laws in the country. That’s why we have such high turnout. We have same-day registration and no excuse absentee ballot voting, which will start in just a few weeks.
We greatly appreciate the support of the netroots and the Kos community. We have a shared asset in Bill in Portland Maine who has been sounding the alarm on our campaign for months now.
I’ll be posting here throughout the campaign with news and updates. We know this won’t be easy. The opposition wants the road to marriage to end in Maine. But, we will not let that happen.
If you haven't already, please donate today.