(I'm the campaign manager for NO on 1/Protect Marriage Equality)
Back in September, I took to the diaries here to underscore my firm belief: that the road to marriage equality runs through Maine.
That's still true, as we're 0-30 in statewide marriage equality votes all-time. Thirty times we've fought to save full protections for same sex couples, and 30 times we've lost. Our own World Series is on in the progressive movement, and we're batting .000.
We're in danger of losing another one, too. This week, Markos wrote about the new DailyKos poll that showed a dead-even race: 48%-47%. On Wednesday, loving, same sex couples all over Maine- like in California- could wake up to find themselves stripped of their right to marry. I'm not scared of much, but this Halloween, that's what scares me the most.
Kossacks, you raised over $13,000 on the Orange to Blue page to help give us the resources we needed. But there's one more thing I need to ask.
We can win this thing if we turn out our voters. In Maine, with little else on the ballot, young people are our biggest target for drop-off. We have very liberal voting laws in Maine- early in-person absentee voting, same-day registration.
The No on 1 campaign has an amazing GOTV effort already underway. In Portland, the state's largest city, more people have voted early than in any non-presidential year. The clerk had to order more ballots. But, we can't miss anyone.
We just need to get young people out to vote. We also are a very rural state- there are communities where field canvassing isn't effective. That's why I'm asking for your help one more time.
So we've set up a Call for Equality program. All you need is a phone and an internet connection. We'll train you, and then it's just two hours of your time to get our voters to the polls. Two hours of your time to help ensure that Mainers can marry the one person they love. You can sign up for a shift of your choice- we've got two-hour shifts every day until Election Day, which is just four days away.
This is going down to the wire. I'm tired of watching loving, committed couples lose the full protections and dignity of marriage. I hope you'll join me in taking two hours to Call for Equality, and help me break our losing streak. The road to marriage equality runs through Maine, and this is where we make our stand.
You can call it my trick-or-treat gift.
Just for fun, here is a picture of me and my son Fin who just came trick-or-treating at the No on 1 offices.