enlarge Fred Field/Staff Photographer

Sen. Hillary Clinton speaks at a rally Saturday at the University of Maine’s Student Recreation Center in Orono. The gymnasium was packed and 300 to 400 others filled an overflow room.

SATURDAY RESULTS DEMOCRATS LOUISIANA (83% reporting) Obama: 55% Clinton: 38% NEBRASKA Obama: 68% Clinton: 32% WASHINGTON Obama: 68% Clinton: 31% REPUBLICANS KANSAS McCain: 24% Huckabee: 60% Paul: 11% LOUISIANA Huckabee: 43% McCain: 42% Paul: 5% WASHINGTON (78% reporting) McCain: 26% Huckabee: 24% Paul: 11% CAUCUS INFORMATION FOR MORE INFORMATION about the Democratic caucuses, including a town-by-town listing, see the Maine Democratic Party Web site, or call 622-6233. ANY LOCAL PARTY member can vote. So can independents who join the party on the day of the caucus, nonvoters who register and join the party the day of the caucus, and anyone who will be 18 on Election Day, Nov. 4.

LEWISTON — Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama sparred about energy policy as they barnstormed Maine a day before the state's Democratic Party caucuses.

Clinton said she was "disappointed" because Obama's top economic adviser discounted the effectiveness of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. She also said Obama was conducting "a deliberate misinformation campaign" implying that she was not sufficiently opposed to oil drilling off Maine's coast.

"I am so disappointed that they do not understand how important this is to the people of Maine and to my state of New York," Clinton said, referring to LIHEAP.

Obama said in a statement: "The only misinformation campaign being spread here is by Sen. Clinton, who knows full well that I've voted in favor of heating assistance countless times."

The dispute began Friday, when Obama economic adviser Austan Goolsbee criticized Clinton's plan to add $25 billion to LIHEAP, which would give a $650 subsidy to 15,000 Mainers.

He suggested that increasing funding for LIHEAP would not spur economic growth because getting the money to new applicants takes too long.

LIHEAP funding can get to those who already have qualified for the program quickly -- additional funding released by the Bush administration on Jan. 17 was dispersed to Maine families by Jan. 22.

Also Friday, Obama criticized Clinton for voting for a bill that restructured an oil revenue-sharing agreement among the Gulf states to help hurricane-ravaged Louisiana, but that he said could lead to drilling off the coast of Maine.

Clinton voted for the legislation while Obama opposed the measure, although he voted for it as part of a larger bill.

"If she feels this strongly that we shouldn't drill for oil off of our nation's coasts, then she should have voted against a bill that her own supporters feared would do exactly that," he said."That's the same kind of thinking that led her to vote for war in Iraq and then later claim that her vote was really for diplomacy instead."

"There was nothing in that bill that said anything at all about drilling anywhere else," Clinton said in an exclusive interview in Lewiston. "I am adamantly opposed to drilling off of our East and West coasts."

The harsh rhetoric between the two remaining Democrats vying for the nomination underscores how tight the race is and how hard they are fighting for every delegate, including the 24 that Maine will send to the national convention in Denver in August.

Clinton had 1,055 delegates heading into Saturday, including so-called "superdelegates." Obama had 998, according to a tally released Saturday by The Associated Press.

In addition to its 24 pledged delegates, Maine also has 10 superdelegates, who can support any candidate at a time of their choosing.

Clinton flew into Bangor late Friday and attended a rally at the University of Maine's Student Recreation Center in Orono on Saturday morning.

While she took veiled swipes at her opponent's policies and touted her experience, she said she is the best candidate for the general election campaign.

"I consider him a friend and colleague, but I guess the Republicans liked the last seven years and decided they want more of the same," Clinton said, in Orono, referring to the likely GOP nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain.

She acknowledged McCain's "legendary background," as a prisoner of war in Vietnam from 1965 to 1971, but said, "What John McCain is offering is more of the same. I can go toe to toe with John McCain. You don't have to worry about me being knocked out of the ring."

She also painted Obama as the front-runner, but stopped short of describing herself as the underdog.

Obama has "increasingly run an establishment race" by relying on endorsements and has "tailored his positions so that they are...