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Election 2008: Less clear is how much the state's Democratic contests will mean.

By PAUL CARRIER, Staff Writer January 27, 2008

AUGUSTA -- Maine's Republican and Democratic caucuses may attract national attention next month, and possibly even a few presidential candidates, because at least one, and perhaps both, nominations will still be up for grabs when the local voting rolls around.

That's the view of party leaders and outside experts who say the fact that the GOP candidates continue to slug it out will focus a spotlight on Maine's Republican caucuses, which will be held Feb. 1, 2 and 3.

Those caucuses will precede Super Tuesday on Feb. 5, when voters in more than 20 states will head to the polls in what The Associated Press recently called "the biggest day of the primary campaign."

Less clear is how much attention the Democratic caucuses will generate on Feb. 10, coming as they do five days after Super Tuesday.

If a Democratic frontrunner emerges on Feb. 5, that will dampen interest in the Maine vote. But if the Democratic race remains a toss-up after Super Tuesday, Maine Democrats will get their share of the limelight.

"The Republican field is still wide open," and that will not change before the GOP caucuses in Maine, said Mark Brewer, a political scientist at the University of Maine.

As for Maine Democrats, Brewer said, what happens on Super Tuesday will determine whether Maine becomes "largely irrelevant" or just the opposite -- a destination for major Democratic contenders.

"There's still some mystery about what's going to happen" in both races, and that may bode well for Maine, said political scientist Marvin Druker of Lewiston-Auburn College.

In both cases, the Maine parties will have the stage to themselves when they meet.

No other states are holding caucuses or primaries the first three days of February or on Feb. 10.

HIGH TURNOUT EXPECTED

Leaders in both parties say the hotly contested races have energized their members.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama are still battling it out for supremacy on the Democratic side.

Among the Republicans, former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney, Sen. John McCain, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and one- time New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani head the field nationally, although party leaders say supporters of Rep. Ron Paul are "the most organized" here.

"We're going to see a high turnout at the caucuses," said Arden Manning, executive director of the Maine Democratic Party.

"The interest is out there," both among Maine voters and out- of-state politics watchers, according to Julie O'Brien, executive director of the Maine Republican Party.

There are key differences between the two parties' caucuses in Maine, the most obvious being their timing.

The Republicans use paper ballots to cast their presidential- preference votes, while the Democrats take a more public stand by moving into their candidate's "corner," where the number of supporters is then counted up.

Although the Republicans are caucusing over three days, the bulk of their voting will take place Feb. 1 and 2, with results to be announced the night of Feb. 2. The Democrats will wrap things up in one day, on Feb. 10.

Both parties caucus town by town. But some of the Republican caucuses, such as most of those in York County, will be held at a countywide location where Republicans will separate into local groups.

In other cases, such as in Cumberland County, Republicans will do what the Democrats are doing everywhere -- hold local caucuses in each city and town.

DELEGATES WILL GO TO AUGUSTA

Neither party will choose delegates to its national convention at the caucuses, at least not directly.

Instead, the caucuses will choose delegates to each party's state convention at the Augusta Civic Center. The Republicans meet there on May 2 and 3. The Democrats hold their three-day state convention May 30 and 31 and June 1.

It is the state conventions that will elect Maine's delegates to the national conventions, which the Democrats will...