I Can See Massachusetts From My Border

10/21/09-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
Be afraid- Massachusetts already has same-sex marriage!

It almost seems as if the people opposing marriage equality in Maine are phoning it in. After all, they are recycling the same ads that ran in California for the Prop 8 battle for the upcoming voter veto initiative in Maine. Apparently they never got the memo that the drive from Maine to Massachusetts takes….about half an hour depending on traffic. Getting to Vermont takes about forty minutes. And, from some places, you can literally see Canada and New Hampshire from your house.

The scare tactics of saying how those East Coast New England loony liberals are going to destroy your children’s right to grow up in a homosexual marriage free environment might work when there is a country in between one state and another, but it does not really work all that well when you can drive there and back 48 times in a day, if you so wished. Most non-Massachusetts New Englanders know people who are living in or are from Massachusetts. People routinely travel between the six states that make up New England.

Current polls put the battle over marriage equality in Maine at exactly even. It will be a pitched battle determined more by voter turn out than anything else. However, if the fundraising is any indication, there is an enthusiasm gap between those opposed to marriage equality and those who are for it. There is a strong likelihood that those who are for marriage equality will be willing to turn out more than those opposed due to fears including having their donations made public and a general sense that this is inevitable. Anger towards the Roman Catholic Church may also be a contributing factor since they have angered much of their congregation by pouring money into this despite closing schools and churches across the state.

However, every vote will count, and the push will be to get every voter out to the polls in order to defeat this measure.

The push to do away with marriage rights in Maine was the focus of Rachel Maddow’s second segment. Dr. Maddow, it should be noted, splits her time between New York and Massachusetts. It includes a clip in it comparing an ad running in Maine to one that ran in California.

Massachusetts is in Purple in picture above, Maine is in Blue.