I feel I have to apologize to Maine for what they're going through. Not the election itself, which is something Karl Rove's strategy of anti-gay state constitutional amendments guarantees other states, too, will have to face. Maine's voters could be the first to affirm equal marriage rights for same-sex couples, but they won't be the last by any means.
No, I ought to apologize because the politics of California's education system has now infected a perfectly innocent state. When the anti-marriage side hired California's Schubert Flint Public Affairs to handle the Yes on Question 1 campaign, they inadvertently guaranteed that our unusual education politics would come as part of the deal.
As he did in California, Frank Schubert can't stop trying to scare people with horror stories about how grade-school kids will learn about gay marriage. That question arose naturally in California, where our state Education Code does, in fact, mention the teaching of marriage and family life. We've been fighting battles over this for so long now that we take it for granted. When Schubert brought up public schools here, no one batted an eye. Of course some people would be worried about what schools would be teaching kids about marriage. We've been fighting battles like that since sex education first came up in the 1960s.
But the fit is awkward in Maine. As anyone can see in this press conference by the Speaker of the Maine House, and its former Attorney General, education in Maine is a local affair, and state law has nothing to say about teaching marriage. The current state Attorney General was unambiguous about that fundamental fact, and seems flabbergasted that the idea would even occur to anyone.
Schubert is not one to worry about the reality-based world, though. If scaring parents worked politically in California, he'll give it a whirl in Maine, too.
But the No on 1 campaign hasn't let itself get bamboozled. Schubert may not understand Maine - or need to -- but people who actually live there, and get elected there, and teach there, do. And all of them know that when it comes to marriage, Maine's schools are subject to powerful and sensible local control, with no directives from the state.
This is a senseless argument, and a cruel tactic, and Maine's voters are only suffering through it because it worked for Schubert in California. Well, Maine ain't California, and I wish the state's voters well in making sure Schubert learns that lesson.
(H/T to Pam's House Blend)