For the past two days. I’ve been working the trenches for the 2005 elections. It’s good to keep my feet wet with regard to electoral politics, and this year’s races are fairly interesting for an off-year.

On Sunday, I did a canvass for David Poisson, who is running for the Virginia House of Delegates. Poisson, a Democrat, is running against a hardcore theocon named Dick Black. During his term in the House od Delegates, Black has been very open about his extreme right-leaning agenda. He even went so far as to send his constituents keychains featuring a pink, plastic fetus – a tribute to his extreme anti-choice, anti-woman views. Black also believes in the continuing role of the single-occupant automobile as the idea means of transport for Loudoun County – this in a day of decreasing oil supplies and worsening pollution. And he wants to do all of this while eroding Virginia’s needed tax base.

Poisson is a much more reaonsable character, who is much more progressive in his views. He is for expansion of Metro rail to Loudoun County. He believes firmly in properly-funded schools that don’t take from other needy programs. And he smiles a lot – a big plus.

At any rate, I canvassed through a cookie-cutter subdivision, full of chock-a-block townhouse condominiums. Recently built, these places have a pleasing look, though they stick out like sore thumbs on the former farmland they occupy. Furthermore, their quality of build is such that the depreciation on the properties will accellerate in the next five to ten years, as cheap construction begins to fail. In other words: it’s a bit of a pseudo riche ghetto.

Fighting back the natural aversion I have to these areas, as well as the annoyance that my promised literature drop suddenly became a canvassing opportunity, I knocked on doors and spoke with many Democrats (and even some turncoat Republicans) who were sick of Dick Black, and supportive of the Warner-Kaine administration and its benefits for the people of Virginia. All the while, Kilgore (Republican candidate for governor) had his “frat goons” doing a canvass: four young men, dressed in identical, frat-boy finery, driving around the subdivision in a black van, storm-knocking on Kilgore supporters’ doors (as well as those of some of the turncoats – that was fun to see). It’ll be a close race in Virginia, and I hope that Poisson and Kaine pull off victories.

Last night, I phone banked Maine voters at the national HQ of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. In this off-year election, Maine voters face Question 1 on the ballot, which reads:

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows (I’ve put in bold the new text that would be added if the Question passes):

Sec. 1. 5 MRSA SS4552, as amended by PL 1993, c. 327, SS1, is further amended to read:

To protect the public health, safety and welfare, it is declared to be the policy of this state to keep continually in review all practices infringing on the basic human right to a life with dignity, and the causes of these practices, so that corrective measures may, where possible, be promptly recommended and implemented, and to prevent discrimination in employment, housing or access to public accommodations on account of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry or national origin; and in employment, discrimination on account of age or because of the previous assertion of a claim or right under former Title 39 or Title 39-A and in housing because of familial status; and to prevent discrimination in the extension of credit on account of age, race, color, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, ancestry or national origin; and to prevent discrimination in education on account of sex, sexual orientation or physical or mental disability.

Discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodation, credit and educational opportunity on the basis of sexual orientation, except that a religious corporation, association or organization that does not receive public funds is exempt from this provision.

“Sexual orientation” means a person’s actual or perceived heterosexuality, bisexuality, homosexuality or gender identity or expression.

The first part of this question – the large paragraph, not in bold – was enacted by the Main legislature and signed into law by Maine’s governor, John Baldacci, back in March. However, right-wing theocons quickly gathered 2,000 petition signatures to try and repeal this extension of anti-discrimination protection. They argued that this measure would bring Maine closer to allowing gay marriage. However, adding sexual orientation protection does not usurp the power of Maine’s DOMA legislation, a fact verified by over 40 lawyers who are familiar with the constructs of both laws.

The big issue is that the Question on the ballot is wored in such a way as to be very confusing: a “yes” vote supports repealing the sexual orentiation clauses from the law (the last little bits noted above, in bold), whereas a “no” vote is a vote to keep the protection on the books. It’s easily spun the wrong way, and the Task Force, along with Maine Won’t Discriminate, wanted to make sure Mainers were clear on which way was which.

So I spent two hours calling Mainers who had already been identified as potential supporters. It was actually one of the most rewarding phone banking experiences I’ve ever had. By and large, people were supportive of keeping the anti-discrimination laws as-is, with the sexual orentiation protection intact. The big battle was making sure the supporters got out and voted. I believe we were successful – and I hope that the perceived success translates to real-world victory (or, technically, defeat) for the Question issue.