Sure, health care is the war right now. But tucked away in the far
Northeast another battle has commenced for the hearts and minds of the
people of Maine. On November 3rd, Maine's electorate will vote to
either keep Maine's equal marriage rights law, which will then be put
into effect, or overturn it. And so the TV ads have begun... Watch
the first ad, airing starting today, below.
The one-minute ad, called "Together", features residents of the state
who talk about "Maine ways"and "Maine values" of "fairness, respect
for each other," and "strong and healthy families," which can be
promoted through marriage equality. Watch the ad below.
Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, the Equality Maine Foundation,
and the Maine Civil Liberties Union Foundation sponsored the ad.
-- Maine Marriage Equality Ad Debuts
I have not yet seen any references to opposing ads, but you can be sure they will be coming:
Quoting July filings with the Maine Ethics Commission, Stand for Marriage Maine collected $343,000, with large donations coming from the National Organization for Marriage ($160,000), the Catholic Archdiocese of Portland ($100,000), the Knights of Columbus ($50,000) and Focus on the Family Maine ($31,000).
-- Everyday Christian, August 20th, 2009
You can donate to the cause here (I know, I know, we've already donated almost $300,000 to Act Blue Progressives fighting for health care, but we don't have the liberty to pick when and where the important battles happen).
Here are some comments about the ad from The Advocate:
Are their no Hispanic or black people in Maine? Are there no handicap people that are gay or lesbian in Maine? ... Thank God for the one Asian lady! Come on People if we are going to be about DIVERSITY, be about True DIVERSITY..
It is a wonderful ad!
While I do think the ad is good I don't think it's enough. Here in CA we lost because children were made the "victims" of gay marriage.
Is this what my donation's paying for? Seriously? If this is the kind of campaign they run, we'll lose.
It brought a tear to my eye and I am a native of Maine.
The ad is PHENOMENAL!
As you can see just from these excerpts, response to the ad runs the gamut.
What do you think? Is this an effective ad, or a dud?