PORTLAND – About 150 people turned out for an anti-hate rally in Portland prompted largely by a postelection incident in which a sign at a Standish store asked customers to bet on a date when President-elect Barack Obama would be assassinated.

The rally was organized by civil rights and civil liberties groups. Gov. John Baldacci told those attending that “every time we see hate and intolerance, we must loudly denounce it.” He said Maine stands united against intolerance in any form.

The Maine Civil Liberties Union said that while people have a right to say intolerant things, others have a right to criticize those messages.

Maine’s leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Rachel Talbot Ross, said other states have had racial incidents since Obama’s election.