You give too much credit to the "vote Yes!" crowd here. They ran an ugly campaign, including the lie about how, by allowing marriage equality for all, the end result would be children being "taught to be gay" in elementary school. And on & on.

And there was not a whole lot of help on the national level from Democratic organizations.

I wouldn't mind losing if the other side didn't lie to gain a victory.

Here in St.Louis, voters in the county overwhelmingly (68%) voted to give themselves a tax to increase and improve a socialized safety system otherwise known as 911. How horribly communistic of them. They also voted (66%) to have a county wide smoking ban in public buildings. At least some progress was made last night.

It's definitely an injustice. And frustrating. I'm a straight, married man, and I really hate myself for thinking about things in the following way: In the medium-long run, I believe this helps progressives. The more conservatives dig in their heels on things like this, where demographics, personal sympathies, and justice steadily eat away at antiquated views, progressives benefit. Conservatives look old, mean, and defensive on these issues, and we will be able to look back for decades and accurately portray them as such.

That said, it sucks. It would be far better to have justice than a political weapon.

Some substantial wedge of Maine voters voted two tax cutting propositions down, by large majorities, and voted for one proposition undoing marriage equality.

That's not a typical wingnut voting pattern.

And Maine voters also voted overwhelmingly for medical marijuana. Strange set of results.

Honestly, I think it would be decades, if ever, that same sex marriage would succeed at the polls. I think civil rights laws still wouldn't be passed if dependent on the ballot box. This issue should be left to the legislature and the courts. the right has done a masterful job moving it to the voters.

As far as the Catholic church goes...if the Church is instructing it's pastors to campaign against marriage equality when it appears on ballots then gay couples in large numbers should discreetly attend mass on Sundays. When the priest begins campaigning they should all silently stand and remain standing for the entire sermon. Make the priest and the parishioners look them in they eye. Stand with silent dignity during the sermon then quietly walk out at it's conclusion. Do it every Sunday. By the way, all gay priests should be publically outed.

I said "campaigning" because that's what it is. During last year's elections the Catholic church used its Sunday masses to actively campaign for John McCain and against Obama. They should have their tax exempt status revoked.

Tyranny of the majority. Rights should never be decided directly at the polls; that's the whole point of having a constitutional representative democracy.

If anything is a threat to the very fabric of our country, it's letting issues of rights be decided at the ballot box.

Any minority in Maine who vote against marriage equality should be happy the rights afforded to them were not put to popular vote.

Sounds like the 65yo and older voting demographic, which despite some marks of progressiveness, still finds the gayness icky. ... We may just need that generation to die out.

Fortunately, with no health care reform in sight, the problem may take care of itself soon enough.

I apologize in advance for my insensitivity to the elder generation holding onto its bigotry.

The "winners" won by lies and deep pockets and using organized religion in an overtly political manner.

It's a damned shame. And I hope the people of Maine who drank the kool-aid feel shame eventually.

another vote for time to heal this wound -- there are lots of older voters who do want rights for all, but its so clear that if there was proportional voting (that is if all age groups voted at the same rates) there would be equal rights of marriage.

the problem in Virginia, and to a large degree in Maine, is much less dramatic than the analysts want to admit this morning.

for as long as there have been elections, "weak voting" demographics vote weaker in off-year elections than Presidential elections. those "Presidential-only" voters tend to be younger, minorities, lower-income, and lower-educated (and it used to include women, though I haven't seen recent data - I suspect that may no longer be true).

in Virginia last night, the percentage of vote case by those under 25 was only 1/2 of what is was a year ago; the same was true for black voters.

in Maine, the last pre-election polls which included a question of how likely a person was to vote showed that the number of those under 30 likely to vote was 1/2 what is was a year ago -- and the percent over 65 was nearly double as a share of the likely voter pool. (the converse of the "week voter" is of course the strong voter: educated whites over 65 vote in nearly every election without fail).

this is not a failure of a party or an issue, this is a predictable, cyclical bug in the system that wise strategists use to their benefit, as in Maine where no anti-equality strategist in their right mind (no pun intended) would put this same vote up in a Presidential year. Dog biting Man is not a big story. if the left ever figures out how to get its "weak voters" to the polls in off-years, that will indeed be man-bites-dog news, and it will be a noteworthy accomplishment that means something and is worthy of the breathless analysis the media is wasting this morning.

zeitgeist is right (@ 10:44) about the off-year elections demographics. I was "shilling for Dems" outside our precinct yesterday (sniffles and sore throat today; things we do for love...) and some of the voters I saw should have, probably, been wheeled on stretchers. But that was true about both sides (in my little town, the Dem ticket won, as it had in towns and cities throughout Virginia). What in Poland is called the "Grey Berets Brigade" (because of the hair colour) always comes out in great strength. Partly, it's what they've been taught -- it's an *obligation* to participate --- and partly... Well, they don't have to go to work, and it's a nice way to spend a couple of hours, especially when the sun is shining (as it was here yesterday).

Yeah! Let's hear it for mob rule over civil rights and equal protection(s) under the law! Congratulations Maine, you and California are now mutually less progressive than Iowa! Revel in your dog-fucking bane of hypocrites, adulterers and pedophile priests. But let me explain how I really feel!

I don't understand the angst of the leftists here. Obama is on record as opposing gay marriage so yesterday's results in Maine should be applauded by leftists as one of the few bright spots for Obama in yesterday's elections.

make voting mandatory and let the kids vote on the internet. 100% turnout.

Personally I think anyone over 65 should not be allowed to vote, since they have already spent more tax money than they will ever contribute, younger people will have to clean up their debt (which hasn't even BEGUN to end), and they have destroyed the planet they left, and vote for useless wars at every available moment. They are obviously NOT QUALIFIED to make rational decisions.

Lack of healthcare as a weapon against their voting is funny.