From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE...
28 Days and Counting
Four weeks from today---aka the blink of an eye---Mainers will go to the polls (likely in greater numbers than anyone expects) to vote on seven citizen-initiated ballot questions. The one that tops the list---Question 1---aims to overturn our new marriage equality law. As you may know, it's getting the lion's share of the limelight, not just in Maine but around the country. It's the first opportunity we've had in this country to defend a same-sex marriage bill that's already been passed by a state legislature and signed into law by the governor. (It's currently on hold because of the referendum---no one can or will get hitched here unless Question 1 goes down in flames.)
This isn’t a battle of persuasion so much as one of turnout. Most minds are made up here among the unwashed citizenry, and are not going to be changed this late in the game. Both camps have their messages and strategies in place, and are executing them with precision.
The key in this election is getting people to haul their busy/lazy butts to the polls and vote during an off-off-year when it's real easy to blow it off because, hey, it's not like we're voting for president or anything.
Many questions on the ballot will likely be catnip for conservatives, thus making the "No on 1" campaign's job even more of a challenge. Here's a quick rundown:
Question 2 would cut excise taxes on newer vehicles and exempt hybrids and "highly fuel-efficient" vehicles from sales and excise tax. Maine towns stand to lose a lot of revenue if it passes...but voters stand to save a lot by ditching a hated tax in a tough economy.
Question 3 would repeal the 2007 law on school district consolidation, which was done as a cost-cutting measure in response to our declining student population. The transition to fewer districts has been at times sticky and frustrating, so this could go either way. There's a lot of nostalgia and emotion tied up in our little red schoolhouses, and voters could easily be in a mood to go back to "things the way they wuz."
Question 4 is a teabagger's wet dream. The Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) mandates caps on state and local spending and requires referendum votes for any future tax increases. This died 54%-46% here three years ago. This will be the second-hottest question on the ballot in terms of the clash between those for and against it. Hopefully enough Mainers know that TABOR is a disaster waiting to happen.
Question 5 relaxes medical marijuana laws by allowing pot to be used for more health conditions than is currently allowed, and creating regulated marijuana dispensaries throughout the state. I doubt it'll pass ("Not in My Back Yard" syndrome could rear its head), but it's not something people are talking about much.
Question 6 is a transportation bond and Question 7 is an odd duck that would give local officials more time to certify signatures on petitions. Neither will affect turnout to any degree.
So there ya go: taxes and spending, schools, medical marijuana, the obligatory bond issue, and whatever the hell Question 7 is. (For exact wording of all seven questions, click here.)
And, of course---KA-BOOM!---gay marriage. The big kahuna. The issue that's sucking up most of the political oxygen, and certainly the one igniting the most passion across the state. Polling on this has been frustratingly sparse. (You mean no one in Maine has the wherewithal to commission a poll? Channel 6? 8? 13? Portland Press Herald? Really???) The Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll of likely voters has us losing by two points. And Nate Silver's number-crunching Cuisinart has pureed every number and taken note of every possible indicator since the Grover Cleveland administration---he predicts our side will win by 3. I'm going with R2000's assessment for one simple reason: I've seen too many gay rights referendums here that were expected to pass actually get flushed down the john. (More on that later this week.)
The fundy bigots claim they're fighting to snuff out our rights because "they love us so much" and want to "save us" from our "destructive lifestyle." Well, I wanna beat their butts, tan their hides, take 'em behind the woodshed, give 'em something to cry about, and knock 'em into the middle of next week because I love them so much. Kum Ba Yah, you bleeping muthuh bleeps.
Maine voters: Get your votes "in the bank" early by requesting an absentee ballot. Or, you can actually vote early at your town clerk's office. Grab ten thousand of your neighbors and make 'em do the same.
Everyone else: Help our volunteer vacationers with donations---or sign up to visit our lovely state and knock on a few doors---at the Travel for Change web site. (The Portland Press Herald has a front-page story on the program in today's edition.)
Four weeks we got. 28 days. 672 hours. Time to pour it on.
Cheers and Jeers starts in There's Moreville... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Note: I used to love the nutty aroma of Autumn leaves. Until I realized it was the smell of rotting leaf corpses. Ahh!! Death is stuck to my shoe!
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til Halloween: 25
Days `til the Orange County Accordion Festival: 5
Chance that an American bankrupted by medical bills has health insurance: 7-in-10
(Source: Harper's Index)
Average ATM fee for non-customers, an increase of 12.6 percent: $2.22
Average fee for overdrawing on a bank account: $29.58
(Source: Bankrate.com)
Percent of sales from the $35 billion-a-year book market that are e-books: 2%
(Source: The Week)
Percent chance that autumn's days are numbered: 100%
(Source: Old Man Winter)
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Tuesday Words of Wisdom from the Right-wing Blogosphere:
My Sarah, is what I would like for my Rebublic to be. I might suggest to the r’s up there, that means the rino’s, Sarah is here to stay. I, my home, will vote for her in 2012 if she runs. The gals a comen! Deal with it d’s!
---Commenter Lget at the Michelle Malkin blog
All together now: One...two...three... Classy!!!
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Puppy Pic of the Day: ShamuWOW!.
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CHEERS to the new broad on the bench. Yesterday was Justice Sonia Sotomayor's first day hearing oral arguments as the Supreme Court's new term got underway. After spending a few minutes flummoxing an attorney with several rounds of, "I know you are, but what am I?" and "A sphincter says what?" she turned to Ruth Bader Ginsburg and whispered, "I get paid to do this? Unfreakin'believable." Today: the Nerf-rocket pistol---aka the Sotomayor Special---makes its debut. (Aim low---it's got a kick to it.)
JEERS to haulin' my ass to court. My old health insurance company, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Blue Suede Shoes Blue Balls Blue Moon Blue Christmas Blues Clues (but not Blue Heaven because they put too many people through hell), is suing me---and everyone else in Maine---because we apparently won't let them guarantee themselves a three percent profit by letting them raise the premiums of 12,000 of their victims customers by nearly 20 percent. (Read that again---it's not a misprint.) Here's the takeaway lesson from this: the big insurance corporations (BCBSBSBBBMBCBC is owned by Wellpoint) do not care...not a whit...anymore about their image or their reputation or their ethics. They are impervious to compassion, their arrogance is their badge of honor, and they own you, pal. Oh, and of course they're also too big to fail. Be sure to join the big celebration today at their headquarters as they unveil their new corporate slogan: "Guess What, Beeyotch? We're the Only Game in Town So Suck On This!" That'll look good on bus signs!
CHEERS to gag orders. Memo from the Republican leadership to Michael Steele, the party's official spokesman: "Stop speaking!" Amazing---they actually came up with an idea that has bipartisan appeal. [polite golf clap] We're impressed.
JEERS to the waiting game. Repealing the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy is getting to be like a family road trip:
"Is it time to repeal it yet?"
"No."
"Is it time to repeal it yet?"
"No."
"Is it time to repeal it yet?"
"No."
"Is it time to repeal it yet?"
"No."
"Is it time to repeal it yet?"
"I said, noooooooo!"
Yes, daddy. Um...how 'bout now?
CHEERS to Great Moments Republican gaffery (and this was a biggun'). On September 6,1976, President Gerald Ford claimed during a debate that there was "no Soviet domination in Eastern Europe." The GOP let 72 hours pass before correcting themselves, giving Jimmy Carter time to drop the hammer. Today, of course, Republicans don’t even bother to correct anything. They just get Fox News to stick a "(D)" next to the offender's name and concoct a new ACORN story. Heh, corrections. Really...how quaint.
CHEERS to feelin' the luv. The Blue Planet's occupants have a new opinion of America, thanks to our selection of Barack Obama last November: "You're Number One! You're Number 1!" Thank you, world, that's very sweet of you. In lieu of a trophy, please send cash.
CHEERS to jumping ship. Apple is the latest company to quit the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over the group's global warming beliefs (namely, the CoC doesn’t believe it's real, officially making it a radical fringe group with no---what's the word?---brains). The Chamber responded swiftly and unequivicolly: "Okay, fine. No more free promotional mousepads, then." That's gotta sting.
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Five years ago in C&J: October 6, 2004
CHEERS to the drumbeat of truth. Here we go again, kids (from AP): "The government's most definitive account of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs...will show Saddam Hussein posed a diminishing threat at the time the United States invaded and did not possess or have concrete plans to develop nuclear, chemical or biological weapons." Still, the fact remains: Saddam looked at Bush funny.
CHEERS to the joke of the hour day week month. Josh Marshall publishes a memo from Fox News senior VP John Moody. It contains this line: "Credibility is our lifeblood." So funny we have no tears left in our ducts.
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And just one more...
CHEERS to The New Pootie Diaries, Part III: Pootie Boogaloo. We've now had our new kitty, Fantom, for six weeks, and I must say she's adjusted remarkably well to the BiPM household routine (Sleep, eat, sleep, chase toys, notice looming blog deadline, write furiously, publish, eat, sleep, Olbermann, Maddow, ice cream, sleep, repeat). But we're particularly pleased with how she and our chocolate lab, Molly, are getting along. For example, this was a typical meeting six weeks ago:
Dog: [sniff]
Cat: WHAP!!!
And just look at how their relationship has matured since then:
Dog: [sniff]
[sniff]
[sniff]
Cat: WHAP!!!
Vive le Détente!
Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
"My apologies to Bill in Portland Maine for saying that I like him. I didn’t mean to destroy all his credibility and all his coolness."
---Glenn Beck
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