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March 12, 2008
Is Mitchell still a Mainer?

George Mitchell, the former Democratic Senate Majority Leader, grew up in Maine. His father worked at Colby College. He went to Bowdoin College. He served as a judge and senator from Maine.

As former senate majority leader, Mitchell gets a vote at the Democratic convention as a superdelegate, those party leaders and pooh-bahs who can endorse whom they want when they want. Maine has 10 of them.

But Mitchell now lives and practices law - and more importantly is registered to vote - in New York City. So the Democratic National Committee told Mitchell that he would be seated with the New York delegation.

So is he a Mainer or a New Yorker? And does he support Obama or Clinton? The Press Herald has tried to reach Mitchell on multiple occasions for stories on superdelegates, but he has not returned the calls. Perhaps we'll try e-mail.

Last night, CBS' Katie Couric interviewed Mitchell and asked whether he was a Mainer or a New Yorker. Clickhere.here for the transcript.

Couric: Do you consider yourself a Mainer or a New Yorker now?

Mitchell: It’s an interesting question. When the superdelegate process first gained attention, Sen. Obama won the Maine caucuses. And so I got quite a number of letters saying that since he won the Maine caucuses, you are obligated to vote for him. Then the Democratic National Committee informed me that because I live in New York, I’ll be a superdelegate from New York. So now I’ve got a bunch of letters making the opposite argument from the Obama camp and the Clinton camp, assuming the argument that Obama camp had previously made. So as I said, the argument depends on where you are and what happened in your state or congressional district.

Couric: But you are a superdelegate from New York?

Mitchell: That’s what I am informed, although the director of the Maine party called me and said they want me to be a superdelegate from Maine. But I don’t know if that’s possible because I am a resident of New York at this time. My kids go to school here.

Posted at 09:55 AM

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Comments

So, will we only have 9 Super Ds or will we get another

Posted by ac
March 12, 2008 04:39 PM

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Tom Bell has covered numerous beats for the Portland Press Herald since 1999, including education, marine, business and the Maine Legislature. He worked nine years at the Anchorage Daily News, including a year as a correspondent in the Russian Far East following the break-up of the Soviet Union.

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