The White House, I’m told, will today announce that it’s filling the key Pentagon slot for the implementation — or repeal — of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which bars open gays and lesbians from serving in the military.

The appointment of retired Marine General Clifford Stanley as Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness is being hailed by a key group that represents gay soldiers as a major advance toward repeal — suggesting the White House is moving closer to backing legislation that would reverse the measure.

As a candidate, President Obama pledged to end the controversial policy, but he has come under heavy fire from gay rights supporters who say he has not moved quickly enough after taking office to end the military’s practice of discharging gay servicemembers — which has continued under the Obama administration.

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“Never before have voters had the chance to directly overturn the legislative enactment of same-sex marriage in any state in the country,” says NOM Executive Director Brian Brown. “If we lose marriage in Maine, we risk losing marriage everywhere.”

Whole letter after the jump.

Friends,

Let me be direct: Unless we act now, marriage will be redefined in Maine. Never before have voters had the chance to directly overturn the legislative enactment of same-sex marriage in any state in the country. If we lose marriage in Maine, we risk losing marriage everywhere.

I’m not asking you today for contributions for the National Organization for Marriage. NOM is dedicated to winning the marriage fight. Period. We don’t have a bloated staff or overhead. We were the largest contributor both to the Proposition 8 effort in California and to Stand for Marriage Maine. We put our money where our mouth is. But we have stretched ourselves as far as we can go.

It is now up to you to make the difference. We want your money to go where it is most useful in the fight. And right now, Yes on 1/Stand for Marriage Maine needs your support in a way that no state marriage group has needed it before.

I’m asking you to read the powerful e-mail below from my friend, Marc Mutty, chairman of Stand for Marriage Maine, and to think long and hard about what marriage is worth to you, your family, and your country—and then to give whatever you can today to Stand for Marriage Maine to protect this precious institution.

I’m also asking you to forward this e-mail to everyone you know that supports protecting marriage across the country. Send it to your friends on Facebook, post it on your blog, send it to your e-mail contacts. Do anything you can to get the message out: If we don’t act now we risk losing the most important state battle for marriage since California. It’s that simple. And it’s up to you.
Yours for marriage,

Brian S. Brown
Executive Director
National Organization for Marriage

The best news for traditional marriage activists is this: 76 percent of voters “believe that if the gay marriage law is upheld it will result in gay marriage being taught in Maine schools.” That “save the children” message has been key to the “Yes on 1″ campaign. But with less than three weeks before the vote, the “No on 1″ campaign has the upper hand.

“I love the gay press,” said Gallagher. “I really am impressed with gay journalists, as a group. I like reading the marriage issue in the gay press because they cover it as if what happens matters, whereas if you read The New York Times, it’s always about how this is going to affect who gets elected president.”

Fair enough — my questions were about NOM’s chances of winning a November 2009 gay marriage vote in Maine, and about whether pro-gay marriage campaigners were making the right moves there.

“I’m pretty confident that, as in California, we’re going to win,” said Gallagher. “We’re in much better shape in Maine than we were in California at a similar point. We were ten points down on September 1, 2008 and we won. I saw a poll yesterday that had us up two points in Maine.”

Gallagher also dismissed a TV ad by Equality Maine, a pro-gay marriage group that beat pro-traditional marriage forces to the airwaves.

“I think that ad is not very effective,” she said. “I think that’s a very soft-focus, nice, pleasant ad, but I don’t think it changed any minds one way or another. If I was them, I wouldn’t be spending money there.”

“Carrie is going to obey, I think, the most frequently repeated command in the Bible,” said Gallagher. “Be not afraid. God bless you, Carrie.”

“Thank you for thousands of Americans who have believed in me, who have supported me, who have been in this fight with me,” said Prejean. “I cannot thank you enough.” Rightwingwatch has video, and there’s more after the jump.

There was huge applause, and then Prejean got to topic of her speech: Herself. Some highlights:

- “I’m sure a lot of you have seen me on the news and heard me in interviews.”

- “As I entered into the pageantry world, I was raised as a total athlete. I was a complete jock. I played four sports. I was a varsity basketball starter.”

- “I entered into the pageant, and from there, I just became so successful with it. And anything that I put my mind to, and anything I was determined to do.”

- “I always saw pageants as doing better for the world.”

- “I never thought that I would be up on a stage representing, you know, the state of California.”

- “I even had an accent-modification coach, because some people said I sounded like I was from the midwest. I guess I say my Os funny.”

- “I felt very proud of who I had become.”

- “You can be an athlete and be feminine at the same time.”

After much of this, Prejean finally told the story of the fateful pageant night. “In my head,” she said, “I could not believe that they were asking that question at Miss USA. I thought it was extremely inappropriate for that venue.” The crowd rose up with applause. “In my head, I was asking: ‘God, why are they asking this question?’”

From there, Prejean told the story of the backlash as the packed ballroom listened raptly.

“I don’t know why chose to attack my mother, my father, my 90-year old grandmother, on a daily basis,” said Prejean. “There was something wrong with turning on the TV and seeing people mock me for my faith.”

Prejean turned on the heat from there. “I am disgusted with the way some people can be so intolerant. It disgusts. But you know what? I am here today because I am still standing. I have not been defeated.”

The crowd was with her. “For the thousands and perhaps millions of Americans who have followed me, who have believed in me, and seen me as just a little beauty pageant girl who was supposed to say ‘world peace.’”

Prejean almost let her emotions get the better of her. “I may not have won the crown that night,” she said, then paused for four seconds, apparently choked up. “I know the Lord has such a bigger crown waiting for me.”

–

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From the FRC blast:

Jones, President Obama’s “green jobs” czar, was caught using profanity in reference to Republicans; Jennings has directed his profanity at God Himself! Jones merely signed his name to a conspiracy myth about the September 11 attacks; but Jennings has spent decades actively and successfully promoting myths about homosexuality to schoolchildren as founder of the radical Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GSLEN). Van Jones was done in by two key charges and one taped quote; FRC documented at least seven outrageous facts about Jennings and five inflammatory quotes in documents we released in June (see www.stopjennings.org).

Unfortunately, Jennings has now taken his office at the Education Department-where he will be charged with implementing laws like the “Safe Schools Improvement Act,” introduced as H.R. 2262. This bill to combat “bullying” and “harassment” is like a “hate crimes” law for schools-but without being limited to actual violence. Cutting down on bullying and harassment of anyone is a worthy goal, but naming “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as protected categories makes this bill more about advancing the homosexual agenda than keeping schools safe.

The bill, sponsored by Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) Jared Polis (D-Col.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), already has the support of more than 50 additional lawmakers, The Advocate said.

Nadler told the Bay Area Reporter in July that the bill would amount to a full repeal of DOMA, including Section 2, which advises states to disregard same-sex marriages that have been legally performed in other states, and Section 3, which prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages.

As recently as June, President Obama has backed a full repeal of DOMA.

The National Organization for Marriage bought more than $80,000 in ads to support Burgmeier, an outspoken opponent of same-sex marriage rights. Two other groups — Iowans for Tax Relief and the Iowa Family Policy Center — seemed to play a central role in the Republican’s campaign, which spent more time criticizing Gov. Chet Culver and Democratic bigwigs than talking about Hanson.

Only 8,046 people voted in the election, which means NOM spent roughly $10 per voter on this ad:

NOM is claiming victory anyway for “making gay marriage an issue.”