Will Philip Spooner Sway Main "Gay Marriage" Vote?
Posted Nov 02, 2009 at 6:07 PM
Maurice Berger, Political Director, PollTrack
Will an 87-year old World War II veteran play a key role in tomorrow's vote in Maine's gay marriage referendum? The Los Angeles Times seems to think it's possible: "Polls have shown an extremely tight race, and supporters of same-sex marriage have been hoping to get a boost from [the] 87-year-old who has become the Internet face of opposition to Question 1. Close to 600,000 people have watched Philip Spooner on YouTube, recounting in a public hearing earlier this year the wrenching sights of blood and death he saw in action and his belief that the sacrifice was in support of a nation that extends equal rights to all. Spooner, a lifelong Republican, and his late wife raised four sons, one of whom is gay. It's unthinkable to him, he said in the tremulous voice of old age, that three of his sons will enjoy rights denied to the fourth. 'This is what we fought for in World War II,' he said, 'that idea that we can be different and still be equal.' Maine residents might be traditionalists by nature, but they also have a reputation as independent sorts who take a live-and-let-live attitude toward life. Spooner is, as gay-marriage supporters see him, the epitome of that fierce independence."
Here is Spooner's testimony:
