We're getting so very close to election day, and for voters that means a big decision and a much needed break from the ads, debates, lawn signs and all the other elements that make up the campaigns season.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Democratic Congressman Tom Allen are closing out their final days on the campaign for one of Maine's U.S. Senate seats.

I followed them around for two days capturing just a bit of their busy schedule that had them crisscrossing the state and sometimes just miles away from each other in the same city.

It was bound to happen at some point.

With the election less than a week away in the 1st Congressional District race Democrat Chellie Pingree and Republican Charlie Summers seem to have decided to start swinging at each other.

Summers has released a new ad that claims Pingree voted to tax Social Security benefits as a member of the Maine Senate in 1999 and more recently supported increasing taxes.

As the election season winds up, observers have seen U.S. Rep. Tom Allen attempting to hitch his wagon to presidential nominee Barack Obama.

And CasinosNo! is apparently taking a page from that same playbook. Gambling nemesis Dennis Bailey, executive director of CasinosNo!, put out a release last night headlined BARACK OBAMA: GAMBLING FOE"

The release said that as far back as 2001, Obama described himself as "generally skeptical" of gambling as an economic development tool and likened the expansion of slot machines to the state lottery, in which he said, "You'll have a whole bunch of people who can't afford it gambling their money away, yet they're going to do it."

Two polls released this week put Question 2 on the Nov. 4 ballot as too close to call. That question would legalize a casino in Oxford County, and that's been Bailey's big fight this year. Is Bailey worried about those numbers?

In his release, Bailey noted:
"Supporters of casino gambling like to paint the opposition as moral enforcers or religious zealots. But Obama's opposition - like the opposition of another presidential candidate, Ralph Nader - show that you can be a liberal Democrat and still oppose the spread of casino gambling."

Yes, you read that right. Bailey is tying himself to not one, but two presidential candidates: Obama and Nader.

Dory Waxman, one of three candidates running for an at-large seat on the Portland City Council, announced a slate of endorsements today.

Waxman and Tina Smith are challenging incumbent Ed Suslovic's re-election bid.

Waxman said she's been endorsed by Maine AFL-CIO; Southern Maine Central Labor Council; the Portland teachers', firefighters' and longshoremen's unions; Maine State Building and Construction Trades Council; Carpenters Local 1996; Iron Workers Local 7; Sheetmetal Workers Local 17; and United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 716.

Waxman worked as a community organizer for Ocean Properties Inc., which had strong union support in its failed bid for the $100 million Maine State Pier redevelopment project.

And, while Portland's municipal elections are nonpartisan, Waxman has been endorsed by the four Democrats (in addition to Suslovic) on the nine-member council: Jim Cohen, Jill Duson, Nick Mavodones and Dan Skolnik.

Suslovic, who is serving as mayor this year, has been endorsed by the League of Young Voters and the Portland Community Chamber, according to his Web site.

Smith, who is a member of the Green Independent party, has no endorsements listed on her Web site.

Tom Allen's attendance record in the U.S. House of Representatives was a flash point in the ninth of 10 debates between the Democratic congressman and Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins.

Collins, seeking re-election to a third term, has been running television ads calling attention to 157 missed roll call votes during Allen's 12-year tenure.

Allen says he missed votes to be with his parents when they were dying, when his daughter was married and when his wife was being treated for breast cancer.

"I make no apologies for standing by my family," Allen said to Collins Wednesday in the debate sponsored by WCSH-TV. "You should pull that ad down."

But the Collins campaign has noted that Allen missed three votes in 2002 so he could attend the 1999 Major League Baseball All Star game; six votes so he could attend a trade conference in Miama; and 19 votes last May and June while on a fund-raising swing in California for his Senate campaign.

"We understand that there are family reasons for missing votes," said Collins spokesman Kevin Kelley. "Tom Allen should simply explain where he was for the many others that he missed."

The last of 10 debates in the Senate campaign, sponsored by Maine Public Broadcasting Network, will be held tonight at the University of Southern Maine.

At this late quarter in the political season, a little bit of attention starts to go to the scoreboard.

Specifically, candidates start talking about endorsements, those (sometimes) prized expressions of support.

They come from all corners, typically unions, non profits, interest groups and yes, newspapers.

(Note - here in Political Extra you will not be getting in depth explanations of how the Press Herald's endorsement process works. The editorial board is shielded away like the judges behind the Oscars. You'd have an easier time trying to crack the inner circle of The Illuminati. I've personally got no idea how the process works. Those of us on the outside find out the same time you do - when you see it in the paper.)

But what do endorsements mean?

Let's look at a quick tally from some organizations:

Senate Race

Sen. Susan Collins (R): National Federation of Independent Businesses, Business and Professional Women's Political Action Committee, The League of Conservation Voters

Rep. Tom Allen (D): Planned Parenthood, Portsmouth Metal Trades Council, Maine Education Association

District 1 Race

Charlie Summers (R): U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Sportsman's Alliance of Maine, National Federation of Independent Business

Chellie Pingree (D): Maine State Nurses Association, Maine State Employees Association, The Sierra Club

So what does this tell us? Tough to say really, as in some cases organizations don't endorse strictly by party. The League of Conservation Voters endorsed Pingree. In 2002 Planned Parenthood endorsed Collins over Pingree.

Let's put the question out there - what's the value of endorsements and what do they symbolize?

Note - We can agree on one thing. All of these candidates are better off than U.S. Rep Tim Mahoney. The Democratic congressman from Florida was endorsed by the Palm Beach Post last Sunday, but took it back by last Thursday. Rooney is currently under investigation for paying off a former staffer (and mistress) to avoid a sexual harassment lawsuit.

Sen. John McCain's daughter, Meghan McCain, is barnstorming the 2nd Congressional District today, with stops in Orono, Bangor and Auburn.

According to the McCain-Palin campaign, the Republican presidential nominee's daughter will start at Pat's Pizza in Orono at half past noon, for lunch (as a longtime fan and patron of Pat's in Orono, I recommend the pineapple and pepperoni pizza with fries....).

Next, she's got a "Meet and Greet" at 1:50 p.m. at the camp's Bangor Victory Center at 543 Broadway.

Finally, she's got a 5 p.m. meet and greet at Gritty McDuff's in Auburn at 68 Main St. (I recommend Gritty's homemade chips ...)

Meanwhile, supporters of Democrat Barack Obama are fighting back with a news conference of their own, lambasting a so-called "Robocall" from the McCain campaign that targets Obama's connection with a former radical involved in bombings in the U.S. capital.

Here's an interesting CNN analysis comparing the political fortunes of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina. The story points out that Collins appears to be one of the few embattled Republican senators who could survive the forthcoming Democratic wave.

Read the CNN story.

U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., campaigned for Chellie Pingree today in Portland.

Pingree, a Democrat, is running against Republican Charlie Summers for Maine's 1st Congressional District seat.

Hoyer talked about the recently passed rescue bill and said Congress might return to Washington to consider a new job and economic stimulus package, increased aid to states to pay for Medicaid and an extension of unemployment benefits might be part of the package, according to a statement from the Pingree campaign.

This just in: Gov. Sarah Palin's visit has been moved from the Bangor Airport because the Maine GOP received a "enormous and enthusiastic" response and needed a bigger venue.

She'll be headlining Hangar 11 at 40 Wyoming Ave. on Thursday morning, the GOP said in a release today.

Joining Palin will be country music singer Lee Greenwood. You know - Lee Greenwood? "Proud to be an American, God Bless the USA?" THAT Lee Greenwood.

Doors open at 8 a.m.

We've got our first general election ads from the two 1st District Congressional candidates, Democrat Chellie Pingree and Republican Charlie Summers.

The dueling 30-second ads strike similar tones about the economy and continuing this idea of "Wall Street vs. Main Street" that has been a familiar political battle cry since the recent financial bailout package was passed by Congress.

Both ads also have a similar style and message, equal part biography - Pingree talks about her time in the legislature, Summers his time working for Sen. Olympia Snowe, the regional Small Business Administration and as a soldier in Iraq- to introduce the candidate, and positions - mostly economic issues and digs at Wall Street - to mark where they stand relative to each other.

As has largely been the case so far in debates, forums and speeches, there's no direct jabs at the opponent in either Pingree or Summers ad, sticking mostly to rhetoric that's designed to score points with the middle class.

Also interesting to note, like many congressional candidates this year, both Pingree and Summers make no mention of their party affiliation in the ads.

California Congressman and former Republican presidential candidate Duncan Hunter will be in Maine Wednesday to campaign for Republican 1st District Congressional candidate Charlie Summers.

Summers is running against Democrat Chellie Pingree for the U.S. House seat being vacated by Tom Allen, who is challenging Sen. Susan Collins.

Hunter and Summers will be appearing together at events in Bath on Wednesday, including meetings with workers at Bath Iron Works and a fundraiser.

On Thursday the pair will be in York County to have breakfast and talk with voters at Norma's Restaurant in York, according to the Summers campaign.

Hunter has been known for voting against the North American Free Trade Agreement and Central American Free Trade Agreement, and was a strong supporter of the construction of a 14-mile double fence along the U.S./Mexico border.

Hunter stepped down from his congressional seat to run for president. His son, Duncan Duane Hunter, is running for his father's seat in California's 52nd District. Duncan D. Hunter is among a number of candidates, including Summers, who recently served on active duty in Iraq.

It's big game season on TV right now, with the baseball playoffs going the distance (and the Red Sox facing a challenge in Tampa Bay), but also college football and the NFL.

But there's another sport grabbing a lot of attention this time of year - Debates.
Presidential debates, vice presidential debates, local debates, etc., etc.

In the U.S. Senate race, U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, have been spending a lot of time behind podiums for months now, and tomorrow they'll be at it again in an hour-long debate starting at noon on the University of Southern Maine's Portland campus.

I'll be taking part in tomorrow's debate on a panel of journalists asking questions of Allen and Collins, but the debate will also feature a large share of questions from the public.

You can start by submitting questions via E-mail, which will be considered for the discussion. The questions will be taken today all the way through the debate.

If you've got an extended lunch break or some free time tomorrow, you can come to the debate and submit your questions in person at the Hannaford Lecture Hall in the Abromson Community Education Center.

We'll be doing this all over again in two weeks on Oct. 28 for the 1st Congressional District debate between Democrat Chellie Pingree and Republican Charlie Summers.

And don't forget you can catch tomorrow's debate live online at PressHerald.com and WMTW.com.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, plans to hold a town hall-style event in Dover on Wednesday, Oct. 15, according to Foster's Daily Democrat.

The newspaper cited an e-mail from the principal of Dover High School, where the event will be held.

The doors will open by 9 a.m. for the approximately 11 a.m., hour-long event, which will have a "limited number of seats" for students and staff, according to the email.

Palin's husband, Todd Palin, plans to visit Maine this weekend. He will be at the Trading Post in Palmyra at 2 p.m. Saturday. Palin will appear at another barbecue at noon on Sunday at Harry's Motor Sports in Presque Isle.

The candidate interviews just keep coming.
While the Editorial Board will have a parade of candidates - from state to local offices - coming in over the next few weeks, the biggest ones are obviously the U.S. Senate and 1st District U.S. House races.

You've already seen the Senate interviews, so here are the 1st District interviews.

Continue reading "Video: Pingree/Summers Endorsement Interviews"

It's a long-standing newspaper tradition - with each election cycle comes the endorsement of local candidates.
And unless the newspaper's editorial staff likes to shoot from the hip, they usually bring the candidates in for an interview.

With this year's interview we decided to bring the video camera in on the discussion.

Continue reading "Video: Allen/Collins Endorsement Interviews"

President Bush wasn't in the room.

But he dominated a meeting today between Tom Allen and Susan Collins hosted by the editorial board for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram.

Allen, the Democratic congressman from the 1st Congressional District, repeatedly blamed Bush and his supporters in Congress - including Collins - for the nation's economic woes.

"They have brought us to the edge of financial disaster," he said.

Collins, the incumbent Republican senator defending her seat against a challenge from Allen, repeatedly showed where she parted ways with the Bush administration.

"I voted against the last three budgets," she said.

The one-hour meeting, convened to help the newspaper's editorial writers make an endorsement decision, mirrored the themes that have come to dominate the Senate race.

Allen devoted much of his time to linking the Wall Street crisis, energy prices and other issues to Bush administration policies, while Collins emphasized her independence and record of bipartisanship.

The nation's economic problems, Allen said, flowed partly from the administration's "habitual and persistent" failure to regulate segments of the financial market.

He said the problems won't be solved by re-electing the people who helped to bring them about.

But Collins noted that Allen had voted against amendments that would have strengthened a 2005 House bill to increase oversight of mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

Each candidate accused the other of distorting their voting records, and both called for more stringent regulation of financial markets in the wake of the $700 billion bailout they both voted for in Congress last week.

The newspaper, which endorsed Collins in 2002, plans to publish its endorsement in the Senate race on Sunday.

CasinosNO! put out a press release today announcing that Sunday River in Bethel (that's in Oxford County) has joined opposition to Question 2, which seeks to legalize a casino in the county.

According to the release - included in its entirety below - the general manager of the ski resort said a casino wouldn't be compatible with Maine's "brand."

In related news, the company backing the referendum question, the Olympia Group, is holding an 11 a.m. press conference today to "release third-party data and projections regarding jobs, revenues, and fiscal impact for the State of Maine based on the Oxford County Resort-Spa-Casino," according to a media advisory.

The presser is in Lewiston, and those attending include Pat LaMarche, spokesperson for Vote Yes on Question 2, Clyde W. Barrow, director, Center for Policy Analysis, UMASS Dartmouth, Dean Harrold, the vice chairman of Olympia Gaming, and President of Evergreen Mountain Enterprises LLC and Neil Hanley, partner at Falcon Performance Footwear.

In a release last week, CasinosNO! Executive Director Dennis Bailey made a pre-emptive strike at Barrow.

"Barrow is well known in casino circles for his pro-casino findings. His "research" is controversial, to say the least," Bailey wrote.

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MAINE SKI RESORTS
OPPOSE OXFORD COUNTY CASINO

Sunday River in Bethel has joined with other ski resorts, businesses and individuals in Maine to oppose Question 2 on November's ballot, the proposed gambling casino for Oxford County.

In a memo to Sunday River's employees, Dana Bullen, general manager of Sunday River, said the casino would be incompatible with Maine's "brand."

"The decision to oppose casinos in Maine is based on our belief that the proposed casino represents a clear threat to our State's brand and is a poor choice for the citizens of Maine," he said. "Maine is one of the few states in the nation that is fortunate to actually claim a 'brand' identity. Maine is known for its rugged outdoor image, uncompromised natural beauty, family-friendly environment, and Yankee originality. These are attributes the State of Maine promotes to the world through its tourism efforts, and attributes that Sunday River has tied into our own Visioning process. They are what differentiate us from all other states in the country.

"There is a stark contrast between these attributes, for which Maine is known, and those associated with casino gambling," the memo continued.

Saddleback Mountain, Sugarloaf and Sunday River have joined with CasinosNO! to help defeat the casino, and Bullen said the company will be making a financial contribution to the anti-casino group.

"Although Sunday River does not have a history of adopting a corporate position on public referendum, we feel that this issue warrants our involvement as a company," Bullen wrote. "We respect every employee's right to have their own, and possibly a differing, view on this issue. At the same time, however, we hope that every employee understands Sunday River's position and will make an informed choice."

Warren Cook, general manager of Saddleback Mountain, said, "The ski industry in Maine has made millions of dollars in investments to create good jobs and attract tourists who come here for our clean environment, beautiful scenery and outdoor recreation. This is Maine's strength. A gambling casino doesn't play to our strengths, it preys on our weaknesses."

One of the few polls on the 1st District Congressional Race between Chellie Pingree, (D), and Charlie Summers, (R), shows Pingree with an advantage, but there is a twist.

A lot of undecideds.

Both Politicker ME and D.C.-based Roll Call reported that Pingree leads Summers 44 percent to 33 percent.

It's only an 11 point gap, but what's interesting is that in the poll, which was commissioned by the Summers campaign, is 22 percent of voters reported being undecided.

Ah, the precious undecided voter.

While undecideds have seemed to hold a lot of power in recent state and national elections, the margin of those who have not made up their mind has been relatively small.

But looking squarely at registered voters in either of the major parties, Maine is different. Unenrolled voters (sometimes called independents if they're fancy), make up a bigger chunk of the electorate than registered Democrats or Republicans.

Does that account for this big number of undecideds in the 1st District race, or are there other factors?

Despite their respective time in the state Legislature, do people know much about Pingree or Summers?

Is the Senate race between Sen. Susan Collins, (R) and Rep. Tom Allen, (D), sucking the air out of the room for other important races?

Or are people just waiting for the last minute to decide?

Or is there something else at work here?

Tell us what you think.

Another new poll shows that U.S. Rep. Tom Allen has closed the gap between he and U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in the Nov. 4 Senate election.

Rasmussen Reports, a national independent polling firm, finds that Collins is leading Allen by 53 percent to 43 percent, a 10-point margin that is down from a 13-point lead last month and a 15-point lead in August.

The Rasmussen trend echoes that of a poll released Monday by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. That poll reported that Collins' lead over Allen had shrunk to 8 percentage points, with the Republican senator ahead by 49 percent to 41 percent.

Collins is one of several Republican senators who are losing support as a result of concerns over the economy, Rasmussen says. The firm says Republican senate seats in Alaska, Colorado, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon and Virginia are now at risk.

In Maine, Allen, a Democrat, has the support of 80 percent of his party and 3 percent of Republicans, while Collins has the support of 94 percent of Republicans and 20 percent of Democrats, the poll found. Unenrolled voters back Collins, 55 percent to 37 percent.

The Maine poll was conducted by telephone last Thursday. It involved 500 likely voters and has a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points, at a 95 percent confidence level.

Anyone who has been cornered and guilted into buying Girl Scout cookies or anything for a school fundraiser knows it's hard to say no to a little kid.

So how do you brush off a kid asking if you've done your patriotic duty?

Ralph Nader, perennial independent presidential candidate, will be in Maine tonight, speaking at the First Parish Church in Portland.

In a telephone interview, Nader said one of his prime talking points will be Congress's $700 billion effort last week to save the nation's flailing financial system and his plan to tax Wall Street to pay for it.

Nader said he views U.S. taxpayers as shareholders who should be repaid for their rescue investment and receive dividends.

"We'll talk about the bailout and what went wrong on Wall Street," he said. "We'd give control to the taxpayers and the company they own."

He said he'll also talk about every citizen's right to earn a living wage and the need to end the war in Iraq.

If elected, he said, he plans to fight poverty and corporate crime and promote consumer protection, alternative energy and workplace safety.

"According to OSHA, 58,000 people in the United States die each year because of workplace-related disease and trauma," Nader said. "We need to stop that."

The event starts at 7:30 p.m. The church is located at 425 Congress St., near Portland City Hall and the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Tom Allen is gaining ground on U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, the Republican incumbent he hopes to unseat on Nov. 4. At least that's what a new poll commissioned by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has found.

Collins leads Allen by 49 percent to 41 percent, an 8 percentage point gap that is considerably smaller than the 15-point lead she once had, the Democratic committee reports. Ten percent of poll respondents said they were undecided.

The poll was conducted from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 by the Mellman Group, a key consulting and polling firm for the Democratic Party. The firm gathered telephone responses from 600 likely voters. The poll has a margin of error of 4 percent.

U.S. Sen. John McCain's political director, Mike DuHaime, told reporters on a conference call Thursday that the campaign plans an "aggressive" front in Maine, according to the liberal political blog, dailykos.

"The sudden attention to Maine, which is getting some of the staff McCain is moving out of Michigan, reflects what a squeaker McCain expects," according to the blog.

Maine is not a winner-take-all state. Nebraska is the only other state that splits its electoral vote is Nebraska. The blog said that McCain aides are suggesting the Republican nominee can win one electoral vote by picking up one of the Pine Tree State's two congressional districts."

U.S. Rep. Tom Allen says he raised nearly $1 million over the last three-months, according to an email he sent to supporters today.

Allen, a Democrat, is running for the U.S. Senate against the Republican incumbent, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins.

Sept. 30 was the deadline for candidates to tell the Federal Election Commission about much money they raised in the third quarter. The information won't be made public until later this month.

In the previous reporting period, from April 1 to May 21, Allen had raised $219,650, raising his overall contributions to $3.93 million.

Sen. Susan Collins voted for the financial bailout last night, debated challenger U.S. Rep. Tom Allen this morning and has big plans ahead, her campaign said. If she doesn't have to head down for another Senate vote (because, say, the House torpedoed the plan, again), Collins will be hitting the Maine Event .... The Fryeburg Fair!