Democrats running for the 1st Congressional District seat got a reminder Thursday that you never know what people in the audience are going to ask.

Just after they gave their opening remarks to Kennebec County Democrats, but before they had really warmed up their voices, Ellis McKeen of West Gardiner threw this question at them:

“If you were in the voting booth today, who would you vote for for president?”

By the luck of the draw, Adam Cote, the Portland attorney and Iraq War veteran, had to answer first.

“I haven’t decided yet,” he said. “I think we have a fantastic field. We are going to have a Democratic president in 2008.”

Next was Chellie Pingree, the former state Senator from North Haven who recently left her job as head of Common Cause in Washington.

“I’ve made a point of not signing on with anyone,” she said.

Her top three “most electable” (no shock here) were Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards.

“If you made me vote today, I would support Clinton,” she said, adding that it would be cool to have a woman president.

Mike Brennan, a former state lawmaker from Portland and policy guru from the Muskie School, said he likes an Obama/Edwards ticket, or Edwards/Obama ticket.

“I really like John Edwards because he’s the only candidate to focus on poverty,” he said. “If I had to vote tomorrow it would be Barack Obama.”

Then came Mark Lawrence of South Berwick, the York County District Attorney and former Senate President, who said he doesn’t want to be judged by who he supports for president.

“I’ll take that secret to the voting booth,” he said.