From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE...
I'll apologize to them on November 4
But for now, and through November 3rd, I believe that the poll numbers released yesterday by the Pan Atlantic SMS Group on Maine's marriage-equality referendum are crap.
Let me repeat: in my opinion, these poll numbers are crap:
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.
I want to be hopeful about them, but I cannot be. I dare not be.
I take you back to 1997 when, after nine attempts spanning 20 years, the Maine legislature finally passed a basic civil rights bill preventing discrimination in employment, housing, credit and public accommodation on the basis of sexual orientation. Governor Angus King signed it. The law was put on hold while the religious conservatives---trying to marginalize our very existence by denying us any official state recognition---launched a war to repeal it by a citizens veto referendum, very similar to the kind they're waging now. They got the signatures they needed and the fight to take away our newly-won civil rights was on.
The polls had our side up by several points. The result? The 1998 referendum passed. The fundies won. The final vote: 51.9% to 48.1%. It's one thing to feel disappointment when your favorite candidate loses. It's quite another when you are the one being voted on by your neighbors, and a majority of them agree that, yes, it should be legal for a Maine business owner to pull you aside and say, "I don’t want no faggots workin' here. You're fired." It took another seven years to finally make that against the law. To this day I still get a knot in my gut when I think about what happened 11 years ago.
So I don’t believe this poll for a second. Nobody should. Fact is, the people trying to blow up Maine's marriage-equality law at the ballot box come from under the same rocks as their bigoted predecessors. They will stop at nothing, including throwing Grandma under the bus, to win by a single vote. And even though they're currently lagging in fundraising, they have evil geniuses at the helm who can squeeze blood from turnips and resort to the most vicious and deceptive attack lines. You watch---whatever they do for their grand finale will come out of left field. It will be ugly, and it will be effective. But I believe we can stop them.
Please Take Action:
If you live in Maine: Vote early. Request a ballot by mail here or, better yet, just go to your city or town hall now and vote in person. "No on 1" checks the voting records daily and removes from their call lists those who have already voted. So vote now...and take a few thousand of your neighbors with you. (That's why you got a minivan, isn’t it?)
If you're an honorary Mainer (I'm dubbing you one now by decree...we'll do the official "Clash of the Moose Antlers" ceremony later): If you are able and willing, please join the netroots-wide online Moneybomb---which ends at midnight---via Kos's 'No on 1' Act Blue page. Quite simply, money is the fuel that allows us to stomp the 'Yes' camp's bullshit into the ground. 'No on 1' has done a remarkable job returning fire before the other side has a chance to gain traction with their lies and distortions. But to take the campaign down the final stretch, Jesse Connelly and crew need the resources now so they can allocate them effectively.
You can also Phonebank from home---even if you don’t live in Maine---and secure commitments from voters to get their ballots in early or at least circle November 3 on their calendars.
And if you live in the northeast, please check out the innovative Drive for Equality site, where you can arrange to join carpools---as driver or passenger---to come help out for a day, a weekend, or longer. This program is launching today, so please take a peek.
In conclusion: if, in 19 days, the final numbers end up looking like the Pan Atlantic poll's, I'll apologize for doubting their competence and sing their praises in this space---I'll even deliver pizza to their office in my wedding gown. But until then, I have to believe the poll is crap. I predict a 50.1% to 49.9% squeaker on November 3rd. Who ends up on which side depends on smarts and hustle and money. Oh, yeah...and turnout. Always turnout.
P.S. If you're in the Portland vicinity this evening, you can hear Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson speak on the referendum at St. Luke's Cathedral. I plan on being there as his background accordionist. (I can't wait to see the smile on his face when he finds out!)
Cheers and Jeers starts in There's Moreville... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Thursday, October 15, 2009
Note: Hey, I say if it feels good, do it! Which is why this morning I'm offering free piggyback rides to any federal judge who wants one.
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til Thanksgiving: 42
Days `til the 14th annual Boston Vegetarian Food Festival: 16
Number of unemployed Americans for every job opening available: 6.3
Number of unemployed Americans for every job opening back in December, 2007: 1.7
(Source: Labor Dept.)
California state funding for AIDS education and prevention in 2008: $24.6 million
California state funding for AIDS education and prevention in 2009: $0
(Source: The Advocate)
Amount raised for Keith Olbermann's free health clinics, enough to pay for half of the targeted locations in states where the Senate's "Gang of Six" live: $817,000
(More info at freeclinics.us)
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Your Thursday Molly Ivins Moment:
One of the wisest editors I ever had was Dick Cunningham, who observed, "American journalists inherit the freest press in the world, but they enslave themselves to two masters: the conventions of their craft and the limits their society puts on what is acceptable thought." How many times have I been clocked by various kinds of thought police? One of my faves is the condescending, "You do realize, Miss Ivins, that the polls show the great majority of Americans do not agree with you?" No shit? The struggle to escape conventional wisdom is, in my opinion, made much easier by avoiding Washington, D.C. I like to pretend it's easy for me to say, "Aw, kiss my ass." What is in fact terrifying to me is how often I accept "what everybody else says."
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Bo's distinguished Grampa, Higgins: "C'mere, kid, and pull my paw..."
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CHEERS to Michael Steele. For giving us the gift of laughter. On TV. In live speeches. On the radio. In print. And even during the unveiling of the new GOP web site. I mean, really: what is it about Republicans and basic technology that makes them come off like two year-olds supervising a nuclear power plant? I guess their skillset can only go as far as their mindset, which is currently stuck in 1957. But thanks for the laughs, anyway---they are therapeutic. Maybe for your next act, Mike, you and a bunch of your buddies can ride cows cross-country on a Magical Republican 2010 Resurgence Tour! If you're lucky you might even sign up a Latino!
P.S. Not to rub it in, but the Fredrick Douglass page at the GOP site includes this sentence: "Many prominent Republican, including Members of Congress and Justices of the Supreme Court, attended his funeral in 1895." Here...[flick]...have a free 's' on me.
JEERS to Little Miss Runner-up. Oh, fer pity's sake, this is so predictable. Now that Maine Senator Olympia Snowe has had her turn in the spotlight, guess who's acting like Norma Desmond creeping down the staircase for her close-up? Yeah...Maine Senator Susan Collins. The Jan to Snowe's Marcia. The Baby Jane Hudson to her Blanche. The Mary Ann to her Ginger (or is that the other way around?) The desperate to her housewife. Doing her little turn on the catwalk, performing a beguiling fan dance for her fawning pundit flock. How thrilled am I? Let's just say last night I got my lips stuck in the remote from kissing the mute button.
JEERS to America's #1 pubic-hair-on-Coke-cans expert. Eighteen years ago today, in 1991, Clarence Thomas---who is not listed on the "Heroes" page at the new GOP.com---was confirmed by the Senate 52 to 48, making him the Supreme Court's first justice with a neatly-catalogued porn collection (#1 on his list: The Adventures of Bad Mama Jama). Today he sits on his fat ass all day, an aging, bitter, overweight pervert who hollers at the world the way Grampa Simpson hollers at clouds. Oh my god---that makes him my soulmate.
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Gong! Gong!! BuddaBuddaBudda... GONG!!!
This is another edition of The One Word Answer Man. Neil Cavuto of the Fox Opinion Channel asks: Is this now the 'Bush Recovery'?
Bzzzt!!!
Now back to Cheers and Jeers.
Gong! Gong!! BuddaBuddaBudda... GONG!!!
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CHEERS to travelin' south. When folks in New Orleans heard the president was coming to visit, they immediately started packing their bags and fleeing the city for their lives. When they were reminded that the president was no longer George Bush, they ran back and started putting up WELCOME MR. PRESIDENT WE [HEART] YOU!!! signs. Our fearless prediction for today: lots of Kodak Moments.
JEERS to today's boring correction. Earlier this month an AP story claimed that "silver" was the number-one color in the U.S. auto industry for a ninth straight year. The correct answer is red. Please make a note of it and have a nice day.
CHEERS to woozles and weasels and wozzles...oh my! Portland is all "afuzz" (Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!) over the progress of our new International Cryptozoology Museum. When it opens November 1st, visitors will be able to view life-size mockups of creatures who are thought to exist, but which no one can seem to find solid evidence of. The main attractions: Bigfoot and the elusive New England Republican Congressman.
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Five years ago in C&J: October 15, 2004
JEERS to Bush the Comforter. At debate, Bob Schieffer asks: "Mr. President, what do you say to someone in this country who has lost his job to someone overseas who's being paid a fraction of what that job paid here in the United States?" Bush responds: "Go get an education." And tuck your shirt in. And get a haircut. And clean your room. Thanks, Dad. Meanwhile this line was just bizarre: "In all due respect, I'm not so sure it's credible to quote leading news organizations about---oh, never mind." Let's hope that's what the voters say to him in November
JEERS to knuckle sandwiches for Christ. Two students from the University of North Carolina got into a fistfight over whether Jesus would vote for Bush or Kerry. When asked about the concept of "turning the other cheek," Robert Rollins smacked James Austin in the face so hard that Austin fell and hit his head on a concrete patio. Thanks, guys...now the Savior's taking another look at Nader.
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And just one more...
CHEERS to hitting five digits! Woo hoo! For the first time in over a year, the Dow Industrials hit 10,000 again! It means nothing! It could tank again! Easily! Down to 5,000! Or less! Plus it bears no relationship to the continued unemployment mess! And housing mess! And health care mess! And Afghanistan mess! And climate change mess! And the banksters are still crooks getting away with fiduciary murder! But I'm still excited! Because everyone on my TV is excited! Yeahhhh! Okayyyy! As soon as the Red Bulls exit my system I'll stop yelling! Probably by Saturday! I had six!
Oh, and farewell to crooner Al Martino, who died Tuesday at 82. He'll have no trouble getting through the pearly gates---he knows people. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
A small minoirty (sic) of you on Daily Kos are unprincipled sycophants. But it is Bill in Portland Maine who makes this place unbearable to the free thinking person.
---I broke up with you
10/14/09
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