Hallows' Eve in Maine -- 3 days to go!



And three days to go...

There was a little bit of sunshine this morning here in Portland but by evening the drizzle and rain had returned. Last night was a late one so I didn't get up until fairly late. Today we didn't make it into the "No on 1 / Protect Marriage Equality" campaign offices until the late afternoon.

There was blood on the doors.

OK, it wasn't really blood and it looked a bit too gell-y and gooey, but it was Hallows' Eve and staffers had decorated the office here and there.



A few people even wore something Halloweenish, if not full costumes. One volunteer, for example, was wearing a cap in the shape of a red lobster head. They do love those red lobsters here in Maine. The best costume of the night, hands down, definitely went to Jenna Lowenstein of the National Stonewall Democrats who was dressed as... drum roll please ... a blogger! (check her out above). You see, she is wearing an exact copy of the t-shirt I had on yesterday except that yesterday wasn't Halloween so it was simply a shirt and today was Halloween so it served as a costume. You see, the t-shirt has this Twitter RT and hashtag thing going on which, eh, OK, this is taking a bit long to explain. Just take it from me. It was the best disguise of the night. Plus! She had horns.



When it came down to it, though, today's Halloween motifs served as mere background to the hard work being done to get people to the polls on Tuesday. Bowls full of candy, lollipops and M&M's set up for the staff and volunteers were left mostly untouched. And people of all ages - gay, bisexual, lesbian, straight and transgender - were sitting around placing calls to make sure people turned out at the polls on Tuesday to protect marriage equality in Maine.



The campaign says that it has registered more than 8,000 volunteers. Of those, there are about 100 to 125 incredible individuals who decided to take a "vacation" and travel from other states to volunteer their time. One of them was Pam Perkins of Hendersonville, North Carolina, sitting next to Rex. From today's edition of The Bangor Daily News ("Maine marriage law has nation engaged"):

Perkins said she first heard about the “volunteer vacation” program after she and her long-time partner were legally married on the top of Mount Mansfield in Vermont in September. The couple was honeymooning in Maine and decided to get involved.

“I fell in love with Maine and wanted to come back and help all Mainers” seeking marriage equality, Perkins said.

Perkins, a professional gardener now enjoying her “off season,” returned to Maine earlier this month with the help of donated frequent flier miles and lodging provided by a “No on 1” supporter. She has spent most of the month working full time helping coordinate the volunteer efforts out of the campaign’s Portland headquarters.

Yup! It's crunch-time at office headquarters and elsewhere but there are certainly some great people on this team. And, if Pam Perkins can volunteer a whole vacation, so can you, even now - and you don't even have to travel! How? Click here and find out.



Of course, it's crunch time for the other side as well. Above are two door hangers produced by the opposing sides to be distributed this weekend. Yes, the battle is so heated that the smallest detail counts. As long as those details work for our side and translate into a victory on Tuesday, I'll be more than happy.
  • Of course, Rex Wockner has his own version of what we saw at headquarters. For his take, click here.
Update: