Bookmark & share:

E-mail this page E-mail a letter to the editor Reader Comments (below)

By PAUL CARRIER
MaineToday Media, Inc. 02/07/2008

MaineToday Media, Inc.

Former President Bill Clinton and Democratic hopeful Barack Obama will make campaign swings through Maine this week as Obama and Hillary Clinton prepare to face off in Sunday's Democratic caucuses across the state.

Bill Clinton will host a rally at the Portland Exposition Building at 7:30 p.m. today and Obama will visit Bangor at 2:30 p.m. Saturday for a rally at the Bangor Auditorium. The public appearances underscore the fact that both camps are scrambling for delegates in the hotly contested race, even in relatively small states.

"I guess Maine is suddenly getting on the radar screen," said political scientist Amy Fried of the University of Maine. "Every delegate counts at this point."

The visits come as thousands of Democrats, including Sarah Downs of Kennebunk and Genie Beaulieu of Freeport, gear up for Sunday's caucuses. The fact that neither candidate has locked up the nomination has so excited Maine Democrats that party officials say the attendance record from the 2004 caucuses may be shattered when voters gather to begin selecting national convention delegates.

To Downs, Obama could prove to be "a great visionary" if he captures the White House in November. But Beaulieu, who only recently abandoned the Republican Party, says Clinton "has probably the best grasp of what's going on" economically and politically and she will "fight for the causes she believes in" if she wins the election.

The Clinton and Obama rallies will be open to the public, according to each campaign. Neither candidate has campaigned in Maine so far this year, so the visits should spark an already high-energy race and shine a national spotlight on the Maine Democratic Party's role in the nomination process.

At least 17,000 Democrats, and possibly more, are expected to turn out when party members from 420 cities and towns assemble in 372 locations to take sides in the presidential contest and elect delegates to the Democratic state convention in May. That convention, in turn, will pull together Maine's delegation to the Democratic Party's national convention in Denver Aug. 25-28.

No other state is holding caucuses or primaries on Feb. 10.

Louisiana, Nebraska and Washington hold caucuses or primaries on Saturday, and voters head to the polls in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia on Tuesday, so there is plenty of competition for the limelight.

"The aspect we're focusing on is how important Maine will be in the process" said Arden Manning, the party's executive director. He said over 5,500 Maine Democrats have requested absentee ballots and an estimated 4,000 have been cast, up from about 2,000 in 2004.

Obama won 13 states Tuesday and Clinton took eight, plus American Samoa.

"If one candidate had dominated Super Tuesday then it probably would have reduced interest and involvement" in the Maine caucuses, said Fried, the political scientist.

The state convention delegates who are elected at the caucuses will be pledged to support specific presidential candidates and they will vote accordingly when they elect the national delegation.

The state convention will choose 24 national delegates, who will be joined by 10 so-called super-delegates -- party officials and prominent Democrats who get their slots primarily because of their current or former jobs.

Caucus goers interviewed Wednesday said they will back the eventual Democratic nominee, but they were passionate in their support for either Obama or Clinton.

Obama supporters focused on what they described as his freshness, inclusiveness and energy, while Clinton backers cited her experience, intelligence and, to a lesser extent, gender.

Obama "has a personality and sense of integrity that seems to reach people and turn people on," said Mickey Friedman of Portland. "He has galvanized people to feel this is not somebody else's country, it's our country," she said.

Obama's "mediation skills" will help bridge the partisan divide, said Eric Wagner of Bath, a Republican turned independent turned Democrat who says he joined the party to vote for the Illinois senator. Being able to bring people together "is as important as how many years you've been in Washington," Wagner said.

"As inspirational as Obama is, Clinton has been inspiring me for many years more" because of her long record of public service, said Emily Mitchell of Portland, the daughter of state Senate Majority Leader Elizabeth Mitchell of Vassalboro. "She's actually taking the bull by the horns and trying to promote universal health care."

Experience is an asset, Mitchell said of Clinton, whom she described as intelligent, substantive and passionate. "I wouldn't support her only as a woman," Mitchell added, "but it's thrilling to have a qualified woman candidate" for the presidency.

"With the delegate chase being so close, the campaigns are going to pay attention" to what happens in Maine on Sunday, said political scientist Ron Schmidt of the University of Southern Maine.

Bookmark and share this story: