Voting For Marriage Equality Starts Today In Maine

The Blue America PAC hasn't officially endorsed any candidates this year. We have a whole bunch we want to endorse but John, Digby, Ken and I are concentrating on Maine's No on 1 campaign for now. As of last night, the equality forces were ahead-- but only marginally. The Portland Press Herald is reporting that a new poll shows that 51.8% of people who plan to vote in November say they will vote no or are leaning in that direction and that 42.9% plan to vote yes, or are leaning that way. Just over 5% are undecided. Take a look at the newest TV spot they started running this week. We want to make sure it gets up on the air, not just in Portland, where the No on 1 vote is expected to sweep, but in places like Presque Isle, Eustis, Haynesville, Allagash and Millinocket, where there's still work to be done.



Today is the first day of early voting-- the most effective day we have left to get some real money to the folks on the grouund in Maine fighting the bigots who are trying to take away their rights and exclude gay men and women from society. Maine isn't an expensive media market. And it's a place where the good guys can win. This is what they can do with the cash that comes in:

$1,000 can blanket the state with radio ads for 1 day
$800 pays for one field organizer for a week
$720 would fund 20 canvasses in key counties around the state on a Saturday
$550 pays for one channel of cable for a day
$420 pays for one much needed field organizer for a week
$330 is 2 radio commercials to beat back their lies
$210 pays for 70 $3/day cell phones to talk to targeted voters
$137 will buy supplies for 4 door-to-door canvasses
$72 will pay for signage for visibility for one weekend on a targeted campus
$36 will fund supplies for one door-to-door canvass
$24 buys 20 yard signs for visibility

Something like 2,000 Mainers have actively volunteered on the campaign, engaging in activities ranging from phone banking, to leaflet drops, to door-to-door canvassing. To date, NO on 1 volunteers have made more than 270,000 phone calls and knocked on more than 13,500 doors throughout the state. The money we're asking you to consider donating today will go towards furnishing them with the tools they need as well as towards running TV and radio ads.


Meanwhile we have something nice to offer to donors today. The first 9 people who kick in at least $30 at the Blue America '10 page each wins a special DVD of Barbra Streisand's spectacular 1966 television special Color Me Barbra (which includes a rare poster). And if that wasn't fabulous enough, we also have something pretty mind-blowing for the person who donates the most by 6AM (PT) tomorrow. The picture is above. It's a gorgeous Joan Osborne RIAA custom double platinum award for both Relish and "One of Us." It's rare, collectible, unique and... well, what a gift it would make for anyone who you happen to know who went bonkers over the song below! And, more important, what an opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of our brothers and sisters in Maine!