An update from Maine

I was in Maine since for the past couple days, because my family hosted a fundraiser for the "No on 1" campaign yesterday. I must say, it turned out to be a great event. Louise, from Pam's House Blend, who has been doing a kick-ass job writing about the Maine referendum stopped by so we could finally meet in person. Jesse Connolly, the campaign manager, and his finance director, Andy Szekeres, were there. The President of the Maine State Senate, Libby Mitchell, came, too. She helped pass LD 1020, the bill which provided marriage equality in the state. I was also very excited to meet Shenna Bellows, the Executive Director from the Maine Civil Liberties Union, who was a driving force behind the legislation. She's on the campaign's steering committee now.

As I mentioned in the open thread at AMERICAblog.com this morning, I've been struck by how many Maine Catholics are just disgusted by the actions of this state's Catholic Bishop. At our event, I had easily a dozen people tell me how upset they were. These are all devout Catholics who were at a "No on 1" fundraiser, donating to the campaign. Then, this morning, at breakfast, one of my mother's friends told her she was no longer going to be a lector at her church. She's had it. This is the Bishop's base -- and he's not only aggravating them, he's making them activists for "No on 1." That's my big takeaway from the weekend. (Jeremy Hooper heard the same thing this past weekend at a Bar Mitzvah in New Jersey -- and he posted Bishop Malone's latest admonition to vote yes. It's bizarre.)

Here's a picture of me with Jesse and Libby Mitchell after we gave our short speeches:


There's a lot going on in the campaign in the state. Amazing work. The campaign office in Portland was buzzing. The first week of Volunteer vacation is in full swing.

Also, today, courtesy of Jeremy Hooper, we learned that the Yes campaign is doing its phone-banking from GOP headquarters. One wonders what Maine's top Republicans, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, think of that development.

Also, Paul Hogarth from BeyondChron, who helped organize the Travel for Change program, is in Maine this week. He's got a great post here.