EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS—

Gov. Baldacci talks about his one-stop-shop Veterans healthcare centers

1st district Congressional Candidate Pingree - experience makes a difference

Maine’s House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree talks candidly about the Legislature

MAINE INITIATIVES—

North Star Alliance helping Maine Built Boats create sustainable jobs

Maine’s Quality of Place - the state’s key resource- a new report shows the way forward 

MAINE  COMMUNITY NEWS—

Northern Irish Delegation visits to study ME’s creative economy

HEALTHCARE NEWS—

Dirigo Choice is now sustainable, for just 5 cents per beer

Gov. Baldacci talks about his one-stop-shop Veterans healthcare centers

Universal Health Care is Congressman Allen's plan

MAINE AS 'ONE COMMUNITY' NEWS—

Gov. Conference on energy efficiency announces new loans

ME's correctional system is undergoing consolidation- saving property taxes

MAINE'S INNOVATIVE ECONOMY—

Ethanol instead of gas- takes major step forward,

New lobster business helping sustain the industry

Pine Tree Zones bringing jobs to Maine

Wind power

Broadband news

MAINE ECONOMIC NEWS—

JOBS – Maine’s working hard creating high paying jobs

Railroads make a come back - Gov. Baldacci talks about the economic opportunities refurbished railroad lines will bring

Bridge repair & replacement will create thousands of jobs across Maine

Barclays Bank & other call centers are bringing jobs to Maine

MAINE VOICES—

Eric Mehert on the loss of our basic democratic rights                

ELECTION  YEAR NEWS— 

Sam Spencer on superdelegates

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Not authorized by any candidate, candidate’s committee, or the Maine Democratic Party

As the state convention rolls around and my first term on the Democratic National Committee will soon wrap up, it’s truly amazing to look back at what the national party organization has accomplished over the last four years.

When I was first elected to the DNC in 2004, my goal was to help rebuild our party from the ground up and to do a better job connecting our party with its activist roots, rather than just Washington insiders. In all honesty, when I made that pledge, I wasn’t exactly sure how we could make it happen. But, by some minor miracle, we actually have.

It all started with the campaign of Governor Howard Dean to become our Chair. After soliciting the opinions of thousands of Maine Democrats, I became an early backer of Governor Dean’s candidacy for DNC Chair. Since then, the DNC has been transformed from a Washington-centered organization to one that is working to strengthen the Democratic grass roots all across the country. A few examples:

•The Fifty-State Strategy:

Instead of just focusing on the dozen or so "targeted" states where the presidential race has been decided in the past, now we’ve started a long-term effort to become a truly national party by putting resources into every state, red and blue alike, up and down the ballot. For too long the Democratic Party wrote off more than half the country — a strategy we paid for dearly in 2002 and 2004. Recent statewide wins in traditional red states like Kansas, Virginia, Montana, and Missouri show this new strategy is working.

•The State Partnership Program:

In an unprecedented move, the DNC has trained and hired field organizers in every state — a partnership with state parties that would have been unheard of four years ago. These field organizers are working with Democratic town and county committees to identify "neighborhood leaders" for all of the country’s 200,000 precincts. Here in Maine, the DNC pays the salary of four staff people who are busy working with local activists to elect Tom Allen to the U.S. Senate, retain control of the Maine House and Senate, reelect Congressman Michael Michaud, and elect a Democrat to the First District Congressional seat.

•Fundraising.

While in the past, the DNC relied on large donations from a limited number of party insiders, it now has democratized its funding base with hundreds of thousands of people contributing smaller amounts on a regular basis. For the first time in as long as most can remember, we’ve taken our party back.

Although it was not something I sought when I ran four years ago, by virtue of my position on the DNC, I am also one of the superdelegates you have heard about. Because of my uncommitted status over the last few months, my life has been turned upside down with calls from the candidates, their surrogates, and Maine Democrats. I’ve been urged in every possible direction — some people strongly pressed me to support Senator Clinton, while many others urged me to support Senator Obama. Some agree with my decision to stay out of the way as long as possible in order to let the states that haven’t voted yet voice their opinions, while others have been furious with me for waiting.

For my part, I didn’t run for the DNC to be a superdelegate. In fact, I don’t think that the superdelegate system is a particularly democratic method of choosing our Democratic nominee. I believe my role on the DNC should be to represent the diverse opinions of Maine Democrats as broadly as I possibly can. For that reason, many months ago I pledged to remain uncommitted while the primaries and caucuses were still being held and to support whoever emerged as the presumptive nominee.

Over the last few months, I have heard from hundreds of Maine Democrats, through e-mail, phone, letter, and by traveling to local Democratic committee meetings around the state, on their thoughts on the presidential race. Every day, through these messages and conversations, I gain additional insights into the current presidential race and ways we might change the nomination process in the future. Because I am interested in hearing from as many Maine Democrats as possible, I have set up an easy-to-use blog on my website, www.samspencer.org, so that all Maine Democrats can engage in the discussion. Here are a few of the question I am interested in hearing from you on, but feel free to express whatever is on your mind.

• What do you think of the superdelegate system and the presidential nomination system in general?

• Should Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina continue to hold their special place in the nomination calendar?

• What should we do about seating the Michigan and Florida delegations to the national convention?

• How can we unite the Democratic Party for victory in the fall? What do you think of the idea of a joint "dream ticket"?

I encourage you to visit www.samspencer.org and let your voice be heard.

I have enjoyed the last four years of representing Maine on the DNC. Thank you for the opportunity.