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MOre and More Voters

More and more voters are turning against Obama.....

Gay leaders blame TV ads, Obama for loss in Maine
By LISA LEFF and DAVID CRARY (AP) – 1 hour ago

SAN FRANCISCO — Stunned and angry, national gay rights leaders
Wednesday blamed scare-mongering ads — and President Barack Obama's
lack of engagement — for a bitter election setback in Maine that could
alter the dynamics for both sides in the gay-marriage debate.

Conservatives, in contrast, celebrated Maine voters' rejection of a
law that would have allowed gay couples to wed, depicting it as a
warning shot that should deter politicians in other states from
pushing for same-sex marriage.

"Every time the citizens have voted on marriage, they have always
sided with natural marriage," said Mathew Staver, founder of Liberty
Counsel, a Florida-based Christian legal group. "Maine dramatically
illustrates the will of the people, and politicians should wake up and
listen."

Gay activists were frustrated that Obama, who insists he staunchly
supports their overall civil rights agenda, didn't speak out
forcefully in defense of Maine's marriage law before Tuesday's
referendum. The law was repealed in a vote of 53 percent to 47
percent.

"President Obama missed an opportunity to state his position against
these discriminatory attacks with the clarity and moral imperative
that would have helped in this close fight," said Evan Wolfson of the
national advocacy group Freedom to Marry. "The anti-gay forces are
throwing millions of dollars into various unsubtle ads aimed at
scaring people, so subtle statements from the White House are not
enough."

The White House, asked about the criticism, had no immediate comment.

The marriage debate is simmering in at least a half-dozen states where
a same-sex marriage bill is pending or where a court ruling or
existing law is being eyed by conservatives for possible challenge.

Had Maine's law been upheld by voters, it would have become the sixth
state to legalize gay marriage — and the first to affirm it by popular
vote. In Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Iowa,
gay marriage resulted from court decisions or legislation.

California is sure to be a major battleground over the next several
years. Last year, conservatives succeeded in winning public approval
of Proposition 8, which overturned a state court ruling allowing gay
marriage. Gay rights groups want to take the issue back to the voters
but are divided on a timetable.

In the aftermath of the Maine vote, some California activists appealed
to their supporters for money to help them put a measure on the 2010
ballot. Other activist leaders want to wait until 2012.

"It's never too early to go back to right a fundamental wrong," said
Chaz Lowe of Yes! on Equality, who favors shooting for 2010. "A lot of
people are angry, a lot of people are upset. It at least has the
potential to be a mobilization for the grass roots."

Some California activists said the outcome in Maine strengthened their
belief that it will fall to the U.S. Supreme Court — not the voters —
to make gay marriage legal. A federal lawsuit challenging Prop. 8 is
scheduled to go to trial in January, the first step in a legal journey
that is expected to reach the high court in a few years.

"The results in Maine underscore exactly why we are challenging
California's same-sex marriage ban," said Chad Griffin, president of
the American Foundation for Equal Rights, the Los Angeles group
spearheading the lawsuit. "The U.S. Constitution guarantees equal
rights to every American, and when those rights are violated, it is
the role of our courts to protect us, regardless of what the polls
say."

The situation elsewhere:

_ In New Jersey, the election Tuesday of Republican Chris Christie as
governor puts extra pressure on gay rights supporters to win passage
of a pending same-sex marriage bill before the legislative session
ends in January. Christie says he would veto such a bill, while lame-
duck Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat, says he would sign it.

_ In Iowa, where the state Supreme Court legalized gay marriage last
April, conservatives have no quick way to overturn the ruling. Their
only option would be to amend the state constitution through a ballot
measure — in 2014 at the earliest — and that effort would need
approval from a legislature whose current Democratic leaders don't
even want to debate the issue.

_ In New Hampshire, conservatives have filed legislation to repeal the
state's new gay-marriage law and amend the constitution to ban such
unions. Kevin Smith, executive director of the conservative
Cornerstone Policy Research, said he doubts the measures will pass,
but hopes the vote in Maine will give gay-marriage opponents
ammunition for the 2010 elections.

"It gives us more fodder to go back to people and say, 'Look, they
aren't letting you vote on it,'" Smith said.

_ In Washington, D.C., conservatives are trying to force a popular
vote on a bill headed toward City Council approval that would legalize
gay marriage. Michael Crawford, one of the leaders of the local pro-
gay marriage campaign, said the result in Maine increased his
determination to avoid a ballot measure.

"The same cabal of anti-gay groups who stripped away marriage equality
from our families in California and Maine now have their sights on
D.C.," he said.

Crawford was among numerous gay rights leaders complaining about the
campaign tactics of the groups that opposed same-sex marriage in Maine
and California.

In both states, California-based political strategist Frank Schubert
oversaw an advertising campaign warning that "homosexual marriage"
would be taught in public schools.

The campaign to defend gay marriage countered that Maine's state
curriculum guidelines contain no reference to marriage, and the
state's Democratic attorney general, Janet Mills, issued an opinion
backing that up. But the ads continued.

"It is infuriating to see that the same fear-mongering ads that were
used to pass Prop. 8 a year ago have triumphed again at the expense of
so many," said Joe Solmonese of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest
national gay rights group.

Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council,
came away with a different message.

"Over and over again, the American people have affirmed marriage at
the ballot box and turned aside the demands of a movement that remains
largely driven by Hollywood, some extreme activists and a few activist
judges," he said. "We hope the message sent by Maine's voters will be
heard in Washington and state capitals around the nation."

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