Primary Day is now just 10 weeks away. Here's what's happening this week on the 1st District campaign trail:

Monday, March 31

5:30-7:30 p.m., Democrat Michael Brennan meets with supporters and celebrates the beginning of spring, Slainte, 24 Preble St., Portland.

Tuesday, April 1

11 a.m., Democrat Chellie Pingree tours the offices of Great Works Internet, 8 Pomerleau St., Biddeford.

5:30 p.m., Democrat Ethan Strimling attends a campaign party at A1 to Go, 347 Water St., Gardiner.

The Senate will try again to pass a housing stimulus bill this week, even enough Senate Republicans - more than 40 - blocked a previous attempt to move a housing bill several weeks ago.

The House on Monday will vote on legislation introduced by Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, to direct the president to establish a National Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System.

The bill has been placed on the suspension calendar, meaning that debate on the bill is suspended but two-thirds of the House must vote for the measure for it to pass. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has a similar bill.

But all eyes will look toward next week when Army Gen. David Petreaus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker testify before several Congressional committees. Congress also will debate another supplemental spending bill to pay for the Iraq war. Last year, President Bush asked for $197 billion and Congress, after much back and forth, delivered $70 billion.

This debate certainly will lead both sides to rehash old questions and frame new ones - and certainly presidential politics will hang over the debate. Democrats will argue that the Iraqis must take more responsibility and that the Bush administration must show more progress by meeting more benchmarks. Republicans will maintain that the war is the central front in the war against terrorism and that the surge succeeded and that Iraqis are taking the lead.

It's unclear how the recent fighting - and cease fire - will affect the debate because it's not clear whether the Iraqi assault, backed by American air power, was a political and military success, a draw or a disaster.

Okay, I promise that this is my last post on voting attendance.

Former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kans., knows a few things about voting streaks, having served in the House and Senate for 36 years before leaving the Senate in 1996 to run for president.

I had called Dole on Thursday in the hopes that I could get some anecdotes for my story about the Collins-Allen voting attendance issue. Alas, he called me back Friday afternoon from his law firm, Alston & Bird, in Washington, D.C.

Dole could not recall senators going to unusual lengths to get to a vote or to avoid breaking a streak of consecutive votes, but did remember ending a streak.

“As majority leader, I remember having to break a streak because we just could hold the vote open,” he said, adding that he thought it was Sen. Rudy Boschwitz, R-Minn., whose streak he broke.

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, wants super delegates to endorse either Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. Hillary Clinton by July 1.

"Somebody's going to lose this race with 49.8 percent of the vote, and that person has got to pull their supporters in behind the nominee,” Dean said on CBS’s “Early Show.” “That’s our obligation. Because in the end this is not about Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, it’s about our country."

On Thursday night, the Androscoggin Democratic Committee rejected a resolution calling for Maine's superdelegates to endorse Obama or Clinton in proportion to the results of Maine's Democratic caucuses (a 60-40 split for Obama).

Sam Spencer, a super delegate and one of Maine's two DNC members, told those in attendance that it would be best to wait until the primary season ended and ran through options of what Maine's nine superdelegates could do.

In short, they can all vote for Obama because he won the state; vote in proportion to the Maine caucus results, vote with the national pledged delegates, vote for the winner of the national popular vote, or vote present on the first ballot (which could throw the convention into a tizzy).

After Spencer spoke, the committee rejected the resolution.

In today's paper, we took a look at the voting attendance records of Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, and Rep. Tom Allen, a Democrat. There's a lot of context about this issue that I wasn't able to fit into the story because of space limitations in print.

One point worth mentioning is that the House votes much more frequently than the Senate. Collins has cast more than 3,700 votes in her more than 11 years in the Seante, while Allen has cast more than 7,000 votes over the same period.

The House votes at almost double the rate than the Senate.

Also, for another point of comparison, there are four other House members running for the Senate. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., has missed 73 votes this term. Allen has missed 42. Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., and Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., squaring off in the primary there, have missed 26 and 19 votes, respectively. Udall's cousin, Tom, is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination in New Mexico. He's missed 22 votes (although he did get started later).

Congress' two-week Easter recess ends on Monday and, like all recesses, this one passed too slowly for my editors and too quickly for me.

When the House and Senate return, they head into an eight-week session until Memorial Day. That probably will be the longest stretch that they are in session this election year.

While Congress will be overshadowed by the presidential race, the House and Senate must go about the standard business of government: namely, getting the budget resolution passed and starting work on the dozen or so appropriations bills that keep the government running each year.

The House and Senate will work to reconcile the differences in their respective budget resolutions. On Wednesday and Thursday, the House will consider a Global AIDS bill, and the U.S. Fire Administration Reauthorization Act.

The Senate will reconsider a housing foreclosure-relief bill, which Republicans had filibustered earlier this month.

Perhaps the biggest even will occur a week from Monday, on April 8, at 9:30 a.m., when Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker will testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee later that day.

Check out this item by Paul Kane in today's Washington Post.

Paul Kane, covered Maine politics as a younger reporter with States News Service, and went on to work at Roll Call before jumping to the Post last year. His career path is of interest only because he has some institutional memory when it comes to Maine politics.

Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., has been ridiculed for exaggerating the dangers of a visit she made to Tuzla in 1996 with her daughter, Chelsea, rock singer Sheryl Crow, and Sinbad, the comedian.

But Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and six other senators actually did face the threat of sniper fire when they landed in Sarajevo. They stepped off the airplane to face a wall of fire trucks, which blocked potential sniper fire, and then they were hustled into armored cars.

Most CODELs, Congressional Delegation trips, are tame affairs. But every now and then there is a real adventure. In February, Sens. Joseph Biden, John Kerry and Chuck Hagel were forced to land on an Afghanistan mountaintop in a blinding snowstorm. They sat at 8,000 feet for several hours before a convoy of Army vehicles drove the treacherous mountain roads to fetch and bring them back to a U.S. base.

As the fight for the Democratic Party's nomination continues, the Clinton camp is pushing a new strategy: pledged delegates are not really pledged.

Now, we've reported extensively on the so-called superdelegates: the party poo-bahs who can decide whom to endorse at a time of their choosing. But the Clinton campaign on Tuesday told reporters that the pledged delegates - the ones elected at the caucuses and primaries - are not legally bound to their candidate.

"No delegate is bound by party rules to vote for the candidate to whom they are pledged," said Harold Ickes, a senior political aide to Clinton.

If a lower level aide had said that pledges delegates don't have to vote for the candidate to whom they are pledged, that would be one thing. But it's Harold Ickes, a scion of the rough and tumble of New York politics, the manager of the presidential campaigns of Rev. Jesse Jackson, and a deputy chief of staff to President Clinton.

Ickes helped write the party's delegate selection rules in the 1980s.

After Ickes drops that bombshell, Phil Singer, Clinton's combative spokesman, said that, "We have said and continue to say that we are not seeking or asking pledge delegates for Sen. Obama to flip over. There is a rule, but we are not engaged in any effort."

Every day, including Saturdays and Sundays (excluding Easter Sunday), the Obama and/or Clinton campaigns hold conference calls for reporters to discuss the "news of the day," float a new message and/or respond to an attack from their opponent.

For a recap of the various calls from both sides, take a look at Politico reporter Ben Smith's blog. Some of the reporting in the posts are based on information from the conference calls.

The Clinton camp has used these conference calls to frame the day's news coverage. Whether they have been successful is not clear (to get a flavor of what "news" they push, see my previous post).

There are a slew of opportunities this week to meet the First District congressional candidates. Most notable is a Wednesday night debate in Portland, which is being sponsored by the League of Young Voters. We're planning coverage of the debate for Thursday's Press Herald.

Tuesday, March 25

7 p.m., Dean Scontras attends a town hall event at Gardiner Middle School, 161 Cobbossee Ave., Gardiner.

Wednesday, March 26

6:30-8:30 p.m., Michael Brennan, Adam Cote, Mark Lawrence, Steve Meister, Chellie Pingree, Dean Scontras, Ethan Strimling, and a representative from Charlie Summers' campaign are expected to participate in a debate sponsored by the League of Young Voters, Space Gallery, 538 Congress St., Portland.

Republican congressional candidate Dean Scontras made a gaffe Friday on the Lou Dobbs radio show - and in the process insulted New Mexico governor Bill Richardson.

Scontras appeared on the CNN anchor's radio show to talk about his opposition to driver's licenses for illegal immigrants.

Toward the end of the interview, Dobbs asked Scontras for his reaction to a sound bite by Richardson, the former Democratic presidential candidate who last week endorsed Barack Obama. In the clip, Richardson referred to Obama's recent speech on race in America.

This morning we provided some context around Sen. Susan Collins' voting streak.

Her opponent, Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, has a 98 percent voting record since arriving in Congress in 1997, according to his Congressional office.

In the 109th Congress (from 2005 through 2006), Allen missed 12 votes of 1,202 votes cast, or one percent of all votes cast. As a comparison, Rep. Michael Michaud, D-Maine, missed 8 votes of 1,205 votes cast (the disparity is not clear to me right now) according to a Washington Post database that tallies votes.

In the current 110th Congress, Allen missed 3.2 percent or 42 votes of 1,288 votes cast. Michaud has missed 1.5 percent or 19 of 1,275 votes cast. The Democratic-controlled House appears to be much more active than the previous Congress and, keep in mind, there are still nine months remaining in the 110th Congress.

Four lawmakers, all Democrats, have perfect voting attendance records in the 110th Congress. To be fair, one is Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Speakers traditionally do not cast votes, so she has voted 127 times by choice.

We're going to be hearing a lot about Sen. Susan Collins' voting streak during this campaign season. Maine's junior Republican senator had cast 3,764 consecutive votes as of Friday, March 14, according to her Senate staff.

I plan to write about it at a later date. But I was curious - and have some time during Congress's recess - to find out where she stands in the history of the Senate. Let's just go through the numbers and save the analysis for later.

The record for consecutive votes is held by Sen William Proxmire, a Wisconsin Democrat. He cast 10,150 consecutive votes between 1966 and 1988 (he was first elected in 1957), according to Don Ritchie, the Senate Historian.

Sen. Margaret Chase Smith, R-Maine, cast 2,941 consecutive votes between 1955 and 1968. The streak ended when she was in the hospital recuperating from an operation.

One thing Ritchie said to keep in mind was that the Senate voted much less in the 1950s and 1960s than it does today.

Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-N.Y., the former chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, announced Thursday that he is retiring from office.

Who is Tom Reynolds? Hang on. What's this got to do with Maine? Nothing really, but it shows how tough the political landscape is for congressional GOP candidates this year.

Reynolds, the former chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, is the 29th lawmaker to retire or leave office this year; only six Democrats are retiring this year. (In 1992, 67 lawmakers left Congress, in part, because it was the last year campaign finance laws allowed lawmakers to pocket their campaign war chests).

That means in 2008 Republicans are faced with winning 29 open seats, which normally are much harder elections to win. Given the number of open seats the NRCC has to defend, it will be tough for the Republicans can recapture the House.

Here is Sen. Susan Collins' statement on Iraq. Maine's junior Republican senator calls on House and Senate leaders to put aside partisan politics and come up with a bipartisan solution to change the mission in Iraq to "allow for a significant draw down of our troops."

Here's her statement.

In an interview with The Hill newspaper today, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who is the Senate Democrats' chief election strategist, fundraiser and recruiter (he is head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee), had this to say about the race between Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine:

Q: What about Maine, where Rep. Tom Allen (D) is challenging Sen. Susan Collins (R)? Can you beat a popular incumbent Republican in a blue state as you did in 2006 against Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.)?

A: Of all the Republican incumbents we’re going after, every single one— even those in the redder states— she is the most popular. But it is a bluer state. Allen is one of the best candidates we have, and we are very hopeful that we’ll have a repeat of the Rhode Island race, because Susan Collins has voted with Bush an overwhelming proportion of the time.

To read the full story, click here.

Rep. Tom Allen released two statements on Tuesday about the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War. One statement came from his official congressional office and the second statement came from his campaign (it is not kosher under campaign finance laws to have the same statements).

I am hearing from at least one of Maine's other lawmakers that they, too, could have a statement. We will post that upon receipt.

Below is the statement from Allen's congressional office.

A couple of endorsement notes from the First Congressional District campaign trail:

* Ethan Strimling, who represents Portland at the State House, has gotten endorsements from numerous members of the city's Democratic Party establishment, including former mayors Nick Mavodones and Peter O'Donnell, and Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion. The latest to sign on is City Councilor Jill Duson, who last year mulled a run for this congressional race.

* Democrat Michael Brennan is touting an endorsement from environmental activist and author Ken Ward, who knows Brennan from their work together on an anti-nuclear power campaign.

– Kevin Wack

At a speech in Philadelphia today, Barack Obama will try to quash the furor over controversial remarks made by his pastor.

Below is the text of his speech, which his campaign sent to reporters minutes ago. Consider it a sneak-peak.

In short, Obama, who is running for the Democratic nomination, denounces remarks his pastor made blaming the United States for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and calling the United States the U.S.A. of KKK. He explains that what happens inside black churches is different than what happens inside white churches.

But the crux of the speech, which probably is too far down in the text, links the simmering anger felt among a generation of black men and women who grew up during segregation to the anger and resentment of working and middle-class white Americans.

Here is the key part of his speech that voters, the media and blogosphere must home in on for Obama to move past what has become a distraction to his campaign.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, just sent out this statement regarding the announcement that the Blethen family is exploring a sale of its Maine newspapers, including this one:

“The stewardship of the Blethen family, and the leadership of Chuck
Cochrane and Jeannine Guttman, have benefitted our state in so many ways. I am saddened to learn of the decision of the Blethen family to sell their Maine
newspapers, and I understand just how difficult a decision this was for
Blethens, who have deep ties to our state. My hope is that the new owners
will recognize the commitment to excellence and outstanding contributions of
the employees of the newspapers and website.”

This from the Census Bureau:

Twenty-three percent of Massachusetts residents are of Irish ancestry. Massachusetts has a higher proportion of residents of Irish descent than any other state, edging out New Hampshire (20 percent) and Rhode Island (18 percent). The remaining New England states -- Connecticut, Vermont and Maine -- also rank among the top 10 in this category, as does Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Montana.

Here's what's happening this week in the First District congressional race:

Wednesday, March 19

11 a.m., Democrat Adam Cote announces his campaign's veterans' steering committee, One Canal Plaza, Portland.

Noon-1 p.m., Democrat Michael Brennan moderates a roundtable discussion on the state budget at the University of New England's campus off Stevens Avenue in Portland. For more information, call 773-1323.

6:30 p.m., Democrat Mark Lawrence speaks at the Bath Democratic Committee meeting, Patten Free Library, 33 Summer St., Bath.

Maine's Democratic Party's superdelegate contingent changed once again on Sunday when Jennifer DeChant reclaimed her superdelegate status.

DeChant had lost her status for missing three party meetings in a row. The party held a vote this weekend at its bimonthly meeting in Augusta, and DeChant won.

The vote means that Rita Moran of Winthrop, who had been chosen to replace DeChant, will not be a superdelegate to the national Democratic convention.

DeChant said she would continue to wait before endorsing Sens. Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. She wants to cast her vote in a way that would reflect the popular vote from Maine's Democratic Caucuses, which Obama won by a 19-point margin over Clinton, 59 to 40.

The House and Senate approved budget resolutions - a blueprint for spending and tax policy - last week and skipped town. They return on March 31 for a grueling eight-week session.

Just like last year, Congressional Democrats added $20 billion more to domestic spending programs than President Bush requested. To avoid having him veto any appropriations bills, Congress can just wait until Bush leaves office before completing the fiscal 2009 budget. Even though the fiscal year begins Oct. 1, 2008, Congress can pass "continuing resolutions," or budgets that keep the government afloat at current spending levels.

Once again, the biggest dispute between House and Senate Democrats is over the alternative minimum tax, which now affects more middle-income earners because there are so many deductions in the tax code.

Both plans provide AMT relief for 20 million people. House Democrats said they would make up for lost revenue through tax increases and/or spending cuts. Senate Democrats said they would just "eat" the losses.

Senate Republicans and Democrats made sure that senators running for re-election and president had to make some tough choices on Thursday during the debate over the2009 budget proposal.

The Senate voted on more than 40 amendments to the so-called budget resolution, a blueprint for spending and tax proposals for the fiscal year starting on Oct. 1, 2008.

House Democrats passed their own budget resolution on Thursday, too, but they did not allow amendments. They did, however, let the Congressional Black Caucus, Progressive Caucus, and the Republican Study Committee to offer their own budgets (please see previous post for results).

Back to the Senate.

In response to the city of Berkeley, Calif., kicking the Marine Corps recruiting station out of town, Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., proposed eliminating local projects or earmarks for the city. The Senate rejected the measure, but Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both Republicans, voted for it.

Republican Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins voted against a proposal on Thursday night to place a one-year moratorium on lawmakers' local projects.

The Senate voted 71-29 to block the amendment even though Arizona Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, and Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., supported the measure.

In the House, Democratic Reps. Tom Allen and Michael Michaud also opposed a similar provision, which Republicans included in their alternative budget for 2009. That measure failed 157-263.

Allen said on Tuesday that he had not decided whether to vote for a one-year moratorium. But as a member of the House Budget Committee, he voted against an amendment offered by Republicans on the panel to block earmarks in next year's budget.

The House rejected alternative budgets offered by the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Allen and Michaud voted against both budgets.

The House and Senate on Thursday passed non-binding budget resolutions, the sweeping blueprints of what a budget should look like. House and Senate negotiators must reconcile differences between the two proposals before May 15. Once that happens, the appropriators can begin filling in specific spending details.

The Senate is casting vote after vote today on amendments to the fiscal 2009 budget resolution.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, will offer an amendment eliminating subsidies for oil and gas companies, providing a $500 tax credit for individuals who purchase clean burning wood stoves and a tax credit for the purchase of a plug-in hybrid electric cars.

‘This amendment will help set us on a path toward energy independence and provide a more sensible energy tax policy," Collins said on the Senate floor today.

Clickhere.here to listen to Collins' remarks.

Congress honored the men and women of the Armed Forces on Thursday morning in the Capitol's Rotunda, a week before the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq.

About 100 lawmakers from both chambers attended the 40-minute ceremony, including Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine. She sat next to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and two seats away from Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

The House and Senate Democratic and Republican leader delivered brief speeches, but they were overshadowed by Fiona Gabriela Torres, a student at Paul VI Catholic High School in Fairfax, Va. She sang the national anthem to start the ceremony.

McCain, however, was the star of the ceremony, as his colleagues flocked to say hello or congratulate him. Afterward, he huddled and seemed to have a laugh with Sens. John Warner, R-Va., Sam Brownback, R-Kans., and Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn.

McCain received lots of "welcome backs" from the Senate door keepers and professional staffers. He has returned to vote on an amendment to impose a one-year moratorium on earmarks.

Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are expected to return to Capitol Hill today as well.

Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, and Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, plan to offer an amendment to next year's budget resolution that will add $2.6 billion to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance program.

A vote could come as early as today on the measure.

Lawmakers from the northeast tried unsuccessfully to add more LIHEAP money to the economic stimulus package that passed earlier this year.

Free publicity is the lifeblood of political campaigns. So with six Democrats and two Republicans vying for the open seat in Maine's First Congressional District, even relatively mundane developments are cause for a press release.

Consider some of the e-mails that have gone out in the last two weeks, as the candidates file signatures with the state in order to get their names on the ballot for the June 10 primary.

* Feb. 27: "Ethan Strimling, Democratic candidate for Congress in the First District, will brave the elements today to become the first candidate in a crowded field to turn in the required number of signatures to appear on the June Primary ballot."

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.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., on Tuesday called a government watchdog's visit to Maine in January "inappropriate."

Lautenberg questioned Stuart Bowen, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Iraq reconstruction projects, about his visit to Maine from Jan. 2 through Jan. 4.

To view his testimony, click here.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, accompanied Bowen to Maine. He delivered a speech at Husson College and participated in an editorial board meeting with this newspaper.

During the editorial board meeting, Bowen praised Collins' record of government oversight as chairwoman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

His comments were noticed by a State Department official, who subsequently told The Washington Post that, "This is the kind of thing we're taught not to do."

This week in Portland, voters will have two chances to hear the Democratic congressional candidates debate. Tuesday evening, a forum at the Portland Public Library will focus on the military and foreign policy. Four of the six candidates are confirmed for this event. Thursday evening, the Portland Democrats will host a debate at King Middle School. Three candidates have confirmed their plans to attend.

Here's the week's entire schedule of events:

Tuesday, March 11

1 p.m., Dean Scontras attends a "meet the candidate" event hosted by the Maine Woman's Christian Temperance Union, 714 Congress St. To RSVP call 773-7773.

6-9 p.m., Adam Cote, Mark Lawrence, Chellie Pingree, Ethan Strimling participate in a candidate forum on the military and U.S. foreign policy, co-sponsored by Maine Veterans For Peace, Rines Auditorium, Portland Public Library, 5 Monument Square, Portland.

Wednesday, March 12

2:30 p.m., Chellie Pingree participates in a candidate forum at the Atrium at The Cedars, 640 Ocean Ave., Portland.

5:30 p.m., Chellie Pingree attends a campaign party hosted by Women Attorneys for Chellie, held at Verrill LLP, One Portland Square, Ninth Floor, Portland. For more information, call 773-0155.

7:30 p.m., Ethan Strimling attends a campaign house party hosted by Suzanne Fox, 239 Foreside Rd., Falmouth. For more information, call 874-0808.

The House and Senate have a busy week planned before they recess for the Easter break. They will return March 31.

While the presidential contest is getting all the attention, Democrats captured former Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert's congressional seat. What this means for 2008 is unclear, but it certainly gave Democrats ammunition that the political climate here.remains anti-Republican.

The Senate will begin debating the 2009 budget this week and the House will have a full day debate on the FISA/wiretapping bill.

The House and Senate must pass a budget resolution by March 15 and they must agree to one by April 15 (there's no penalty if they do not; the president does not sign them into law). After that, the appropriators will get to work filling in specific spending amounts.

Al Hunt, the executive editor of Bloomberg News here.in Washington, wrote on Monday that former Maine Sen. George Mitchell, a Democrat, should step in to resolve the dispute between the national Democratic Party and Florida and Michigan.

The party stripped the two states of their delegates because they held primaries too early. The candidates promised not to campaign in those states, but Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., remained on the ballot and won both states.

Hunt, the former bureau chief of the Wall Street Journal in Washington, covered Mitchell's graduation speech at Colby College in 1999 and earned an honorary doctorate there.

Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, and Tom Ledue, an educator from South Berwick, formally jumped into the Democratic primary when they both submitted enough signatures to get on the ballot.

They are vying to challenge Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

National Journal, a magazine for Washington insiders, tallies a series of votes each year to determine who is the most liberal and most conservative members of Congress.

You might have heard about this last week when Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., was scored as the most liberal senator.

Well, here are the rankings for Maine.

Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, scored a 76.8 percent on the liberal scale, making him the 107th most liberal member of the House.

Rep. Michael Michaud, D-Maine, scored 68.8, making him the 144th most liberal member of the House.

Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, scored 47.8, putting her right smack dab in the middle at number 50.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, scored a 47.2, and placed one spot above Snowe at number 51.

Iran may have just become an issue in the race for Maine’s First District congressional seat, as the Democratic candidates vie for the anti-war vote.

Yesterday, Michael Brennan’s campaign sent out an e-mail attacking a bill – up for public discussion this afternoon in Augusta – that would require the state of Maine and its employee retirement system to divest from companies that do business with Iran. The bill is being sponsored by state Sen. Ethan Strimling, one of Brennan’s opponents in the Democratic primary.

The Brennan campaign’s press release argues that the bill is straight out of the neo-conservative playbook.

“Divestiture has made sense in the past when designed to address unbearable human rights abuses in Sudan or South Africa. However, in this case it is clear that divestiture would be part of a series of tactics to increase pressure on Iran in a way that could lead us into another war. This time, it would be a war that could inflame the entire Middle East,” the press release reads.

It goes on to say that the bill “is the Maine version of a nationwide campaign instigated by the neo-conservative Center for Security Policy, a group which has recently given awards to Paul Wolfowitz and Donald Rumsfeld, among others.”

Strimling, when reached for comment, vigorously challenged Brennan’s characterization of the bill. He said that he’s never even heard of the Center for Security Policy, and said that the bill is part of an effort to avoid war with Iran.

“It’s not even close to being saber rattling. It’s about avoiding war, and saying to the president of the United States, do not invade,” Strimling said. “We need diplomacy, not bombs, and economic sanctions are part of diplomacy.”

Strimling said that his bill is analogous to a federal bill sponsored by Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., which would authorize state and local governments to divest from companies that do business with Iran. The House of Representatives passed the bill overwhelmingly, but it has been held up in the Senate, and has not gotten the support of the Bush administration.

During a phone interview, Strimling lumped his Democratic opponent in with President Bush for his opposition to the Iran divestment bill.

“I have to say, I never expected Mike and George Bush to be on the same side,” Strimling said. “It’s the corporate interests who don’t want this.”

A public work session on the bill is scheduled for 1 p.m. today in Room 220 of the Cross Office Building in Augusta.

- Kevin Wack

The research group Knowlegis released its annual rankings of lawmakers based on various criteria to demonstrate power and effectiveness in 2007 and 2008.

The rankings are based on position, indirect influence, legislative activity and earmarks.

Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe ranked 52 and Sen. Susan Collins ranked 68 out of the 100 senators.

Democratic Reps. Tom Allen ranked 109th and Michael Michaud ranked 317th out of 435 members of the House.

It's Tuesday, March 4, and voters in Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island head to the polls. I'm not in the business of making predictions, but I will point to some great stories in today's papers.

First, Sen. Hillary Clinton's chief strategist, Mark Penn, distances himself from the campaign. To read this story click here.

Second, check out Clinton's appearance on the Daily Show.

Third, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., if elected, might have some fence mending to do with Canada, and Canada might have some making up if Obama is elected. Click here to read this story.

Maine Attorney General Steve Rowe visited Washington, D.C., on Monday with his fellow attorneys general, to meet with President Bush and Attorney General Michael Mukasey at the White House.

Rowe said in a voicemail message that he asked Mukasey to pressure Congress to restore federal law enforcement grants that Congress reduced by 66 percent in the massive budget it passed late last year.

Rowe and his fellow AG's sent a letter to lawmakers on Monday urging them to restore the money.

Republican Dean Scontras is trying to make his opposition to amnesty for illegal immigrants a central issue in his run for Congress. He's sought to draw a contrast between his position and that of his opponent in the GOP primary, Charlie Summers.

Now, the Summers' campaign – which is currently being represented by the candidate's wife, Ruth, because her husband is on active military duty – is modifying its rhetoric on the issue.

Here's where to find the First District congressional candidates this week:

Monday, March 3
7 p.m., Ethan Strimling attends a campaign house party hosted by Chris Kast, 582 Sawyer St., South Portland.

Tuesday, March 4

5:30 p.m., Ethan Strimling attends a campaign house party hosted by Bruce and Jan Kornbluth, 147 Beacon St., Portland.

6 p.m., Chellie Pingree attends a campaign house party, 16 Cobbs Bridge Rd., New Gloucester. For more information, call 773-0155.

6-8 p.m., Mark Lawrence attends a campaign house party at the home of Ed and Marsha Pontius, 16 Muddy River Lane, Topsham. RSVPs are helpful but not required. For more information, call Marc Malon at 490-6275.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has a "clear advantage" over Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, according to Stuart Rothenberg, the editor and publisher of the independent Rothenberg Political Report, which analyzes House and Senate races.

Rothenberg's latest report, sent to subscribers on Feb. 22, ranked Senate races according to competitiveness - . He predicted Democrats were likely to win in Virginia and win an open seat in New Mexico.

Rothenberg wrote that Allen "should be a formidable foe for Collins, and he'll try to tie her to President Bush and national Republicans. But early polling shoes that the senator is highly regarded in the state, and her record is moderate enough to give her amunition to answer Democratic attacks."

"Collins is vulnerable primarily because of the political environment and and presidential race ... The race is worth watching, but Allen has plenty of work to do."

The forum just wrapped up, after the candidates fielded questions from the audience about global warming, taxes, and whether there should be a criminal investigation of 9/11.

I'm not sure whether this live-blogging experiment was a success or not. I didn't get a chance to post as much as I'd hoped, because I also wanted to take down enough notes to write an article for tomorrow's newspaper. But it's definitely something that I'll try again as the campaign progresses.

Thanks for tuning in, and look for the story in tomorrow's Press Herald.

– Kevin Wack

After the candidates gave their spiel on Iraq and health care, the organizers asked whether any of their minds' had been changed.

None of them were biting.

"I'd be really surprised if you saw that," Adam Cote said, "especially with the blogging.”

– Kevin Wack

Definitely a left-leaning audience here today...

The candidates and audience members were asked whether they agree with the following statement: “America should join the rest of the world’s industrialized nations in providing public, not for profit health care for all its citizens."

Almost all audience members indicated that they do agree.

– Kevin Wack

An interesting format for this forum...

The organizers, the Sacopee Valley Community Forum, have hung three signs in the gym. They read, "Agree," "Disagree," and "Undecided."

The forum's organizers are going to unveil a series of statements, and the candidates and members of the audience will then be asked to stand under the sign they agree with.

The first statement is: “A strong, ongoing U.S. military presence in Iaq is vital to American interests.”

Not surprisingly, all the Democratic candidates are standing under the "Disagree" sign, along with almost every member of the audience.

Republican Dean Scontras is lonely under the "Agree" sign, joined by just two audience members.

– Kevin Wack

We're going to try something new here today. I'm writing from Cornish Elementary School, where the sun is shining and the snow is piled high. People are filing into the gymnasium for a candidate forum in the First District Congressional race.

The forum will include Democrats Adam Cote, Mark Lawrence, Chellie Pingree and Ethan Strimling, and Republican Dean Scontras. Democrats Steve Meister and Michael Brennan weren't able to make it today. Nor was Republican Charlie Summers, who is not allowed to campaign right now because he's an active-duty member of the military.

They're getting started right now, so stay tuned...

– Kevin Wack