Mike Michaud's Gayness and the ME Governor's Race

[Thank you for being a friend...]

He's shockingly come out of the closet.  His opponent, incumbent Governor Paul LePage, is antigay in a state where a majority of voters support gay marriage.  Michaud could be the first openly gay man to be elected Governor of a U.S. state.  We'll have to see what the first post-coming out polls look like to see what happens now.

(I know about that guy from New Jersey.  He was not openly gay at the time of his election.)

[Flake]

I really hope Michaud wins against LePage .. LePage is just an awful person.

[Indy Texas 🇺🇦🇵🇸]

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Wow. I can't imagine how painful it must have been for that guy to have those stances while hiding who he really is.

At least when a conservative Republican is in the closet, they're usually buttressed by fundamentalist Christianity and are really convinced that they aren't actually gay and just "have immoral thoughts" that they act on from time to time. And they're surrounded by people who reaffirm that set of assumptions.

But Michaud's image seems to be one of a center-left politician who, like most moderate Americans, "evolved" on gay marriage over the years but never got into hysterics over it.

[IceSpear]

I doubt the polls will change at all. The only reason it's even competitive is because of the independent candidate, LePage won't crack 40%.

[Meeker]

I'd never heard this rumor before, but apparently it's not much of a surprise in Maine. I don't think it'll have much of an effect, except LGBT groups might be willing to pump some extra money into the state. Any attempts by LePage to score points off this would backfire spectacularly.

The comment threads on the Maine newspapers' websites kind of give me hope: "I'm not voting against you because you're gay, I'm voting against you because you're a socialist!" That's progress, right?

[They not like us]

Switching my endorsement from Cutler to Michaud. This is awesome news.

[Earthling]

Switching my endorsement from Cutler to Michaud. This is awesome news.

Just because he is gay? Not really the right reason to vote for him.

Or not to vote for him for that matter.

[They not like us]

Switching my endorsement from Cutler to Michaud. This is awesome news.

Just because he is gay? Not really the right reason to vote for him.

Or not to vote for him for that matter.

No, I do like Michaud, but I supported Cutler in 2010 so I just carried that over. Granted, I still don't know much about Michaud but it's really fun to stick it to anti-gay Republicans when things like this happen.

[Earthling]

In Maine, everything is better than the nutcase Governor of the moment.

[Skill and Chance]

This would likely be a net draw in a D vs. R race, but it probably helps him in the three way because Cutler the I is already socially liberal and this steals his thunder big time.  Ironically, it will help him most in the other district while possibly hurting him a bit in his own.

Another thing to keep in mind is that LePage has made gay jokes before.  There's a chance that he will say something really disgusting about Michaud/gay people in the coming weeks, which would relegate him to 3rd place in a state like Maine.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Not exactly a profile in courage to be a closeted Democrat who votes against gay rights in New England.

[Hifly]

I really hope Michaud wins against LePage .. LePage is just an awful person.

We agree on something!

[publicunofficial]

Not exactly a profile in courage to be a closeted Democrat who votes against gay rights in New England.

His district only had 45% vote in favor of gay marriage last year. Maine's 2nd is the most conservative in New England.

[Niemeyerite]

Not exactly a profile in courage to be a closeted Democrat who votes against gay rights in New England.

His district only had 45% vote in favor of gay marriage last year. Maine's 2nd is the most conservative in New England.

That 45% would be enough in a 3-way race. But I believe more people support gay marriage now in Maine, the USA and the rest of the World.

[Badger]

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Wow. I can't imagine how painful it must have been for that guy to have those stances while hiding who he really is.

At least when a conservative Republican is in the closet, they're usually buttressed by fundamentalist Christianity and are really convinced that they aren't actually gay and just "have immoral thoughts" that they act on from time to time. And they're surrounded by people who reaffirm that set of assumptions.

But Michaud's image seems to be one of a center-left politician who, like most moderate Americans, "evolved" on gay marriage over the years but never got into hysterics over it.

Isn't Michaud a pro-life Catholic?

[Famous Mortimer]

I don't care that he's gay. I don't like him because he's a Moderate Hero.

[RI]

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Wow. I can't imagine how painful it must have been for that guy to have those stances while hiding who he really is.

At least when a conservative Republican is in the closet, they're usually buttressed by fundamentalist Christianity and are really convinced that they aren't actually gay and just "have immoral thoughts" that they act on from time to time. And they're surrounded by people who reaffirm that set of assumptions.

But Michaud's image seems to be one of a center-left politician who, like most moderate Americans, "evolved" on gay marriage over the years but never got into hysterics over it.

Isn't Michaud a pro-life Catholic?

He's certainly not pro-life.

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[Badger]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Wow. I can't imagine how painful it must have been for that guy to have those stances while hiding who he really is.

At least when a conservative Republican is in the closet, they're usually buttressed by fundamentalist Christianity and are really convinced that they aren't actually gay and just "have immoral thoughts" that they act on from time to time. And they're surrounded by people who reaffirm that set of assumptions.

But Michaud's image seems to be one of a center-left politician who, like most moderate Americans, "evolved" on gay marriage over the years but never got into hysterics over it.

Isn't Michaud a pro-life Catholic?

He's certainly not pro-life.

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I think the phrase his views have 'evolved' shows he once was.

[hurricanehink]

Heather Mizeur will be upset. Not only is she likely to lose the Maryland D primary, but now Michaud has a decent shot of being the first openly gay elected governor. Good luck Michaud!

[BM]

Not exactly a profile in courage to be a closeted Democrat who votes against gay rights in New England.

He DISGUSTS me. What a spineless piece of crap. While the numerous closeted Republicans are also horrible, at least they're beholden to the party of bigotry and ignorance and are probably delusional enough to believe their own lies. I find this behavior even more shocking from a northeastern Democrat. I don't know care what his district is like, it's not like it's Alabama or anything. I don't know how he could live with himself all this time.

I support him for governor to get him the hell out of Congress.

[Sol]

Not exactly a profile in courage to be a closeted Democrat who votes against gay rights in New England.

He DISGUSTS me. What a spineless piece of crap. While the numerous closeted Republicans are also horrible, at least they're beholden to the party of bigotry and ignorance and are probably delusional enough to believe their own lies. I find this behavior even more shocking from a northeastern Democrat. I don't know care what his district is like, it's not like it's Alabama or anything. I don't know how he could live with himself all this time.

I support him for governor to get him the hell out of Congress.

You are aware his district voted pretty vigorously against SSM both times Maine has had a referendum, right? His district is both quite socon and is rather swingy, so he could potentially have been taken out by a GOPer.

[BM]

I said I don't care. He should have moved if holding political office was his only concern in life.

[Anti Democrat Democrat Club]

Not exactly a profile in courage to be a closeted Democrat who votes against gay rights in New England.

He DISGUSTS me. What a spineless piece of crap. While the numerous closeted Republicans are also horrible, at least they're beholden to the party of bigotry and ignorance and are probably delusional enough to believe their own lies. I find this behavior even more shocking from a northeastern Democrat. I don't know care what his district is like, it's not like it's Alabama or anything. I don't know how he could live with himself all this time.

I support him for governor to get him the hell out of Congress.

He's from the most socon district in New England. His constituents would have probably voted him out in a year like 2010 if he came out then. They voted against gay marriage twice (once over 60%) and continues to trend GOP.

Once again, if you're going to straight-shoot, please have some idea of what you're talking about.

[Zioneer]

Not exactly a profile in courage to be a closeted Democrat who votes against gay rights in New England.

He DISGUSTS me. What a spineless piece of crap. While the numerous closeted Republicans are also horrible, at least they're beholden to the party of bigotry and ignorance and are probably delusional enough to believe their own lies. I find this behavior even more shocking from a northeastern Democrat. I don't know care what his district is like, it's not like it's Alabama or anything. I don't know how he could live with himself all this time.

I support him for governor to get him the hell out of Congress.

How are you pro-Hilary Clinton if you're so concerned about ideological purity?

[Anti Democrat Democrat Club]

I said I don't care. He should have moved if holding political office was his only concern in life.

Yes, let's encourage someone to leave his entire family and the generation just to carpetbag somewhere else. You know, because every Northeastern politician should be like Ted Kennedy, right?

Oh yeah, if you want to be taken seriously as a leftist here, don't endorse someone who ran on a pro-war, anti-gay marriage platform, sponsored anti-labor legislation, tried to primary the most famous voice for leftist causes in Hawaii's history for being too progressive, and decided not to fight for gay marriage but magically decided to "evolve" about a month after Daniel Inouye died. You know, someone who's actually being cowardly about supporting gay rights.