Will Maine Vote Again on Marriage Equality?

Advocates for marriage equality in Maine had 396 volunteers at the polls yesterday asking voters to sign petitions to put a referendum on the ballot to legalize gay marriage. In that one day some 36,000 signatures were gained for the pro-marriage side. The total number of signatures, on hand, now exceeds 100,000.

This means that another vote can be held next year to legalize marriage contracts for same-sex couples. Voters in Maine previously turned down the idea in a close election. Since then public opinion polls have shown voters shifting their stand on the issue. If the polls are correct a narrow victory is now possible.

But, what proponents have to remember is that the National Organization for (sic) Marriage is a "terrorist" organization that invents lies and distortions to literally scare voters. NOM has regularly produced dishonest advertisements to promote their bigoted agenda. In addition NOM acts as if it above the law. It is a political action committee yet it regularly refuses to report where it's funding is coming from, unlike every other PAC in the country. NOM has argued that they should be required to obey financial reporting laws because they are afraid—if you remember their "I am afraid" commercial you will realize NOM spends a lot of time wallowing in fear and inventing bogeymen to scare the public.

Below is that commercial. What is astounding is that almost every single line they use is a lie. It is astounding how many lies they can pack into one commercial to scare the bejesus out of people. It should be noted that when NOM's allies in California tried to defend Proposition 8 in court that they left out the claims that NOM makes in their advertisements? Under cross-examination their lies would be exposed easily and quickly. But in campaigns the only way to expose their lies is to outspend them massively trying to get accurate information to people. And, as long as their are bigots like John Templeton, Jr., willing to throw a $1 million into hate campaigns fighting their lies is difficult.