Rep. Michael Michaud and at least 15 other Democrats held a conference call last Friday with Senator Barack Obama to discuss trade and globalization issues.

"It actually was a very worthwhile process and I'm very pleased that both presidential candidates took time out their very grueling schedules to sit down with 15 to 20 members to answer our questions," Michaud said in a phone interview.

Most of the Democrats on the phone call have not endorsed either Obama or Senator Hillary Clinton. Michaud and others had an hour long meeting with Clinton earlier this month to discuss the issues ranging from China's undervalued currency, trade agreements, and patent reform legislation.

Michaud said both candidates entertained "very pointed" questions and both did a 'very good job" answering them. Both candidates could not answer some of the questions and promised to follow up.

Michaud had endorsed Sen. John Edwards, but he has remained uncommitted since Edwards dropped out of the race. He has no deadline to make up his mind.

Democratic Party leaders want the contested primary to end sooner rather than later, fearing that a protracted race will hurt the nominee in the fall.

Six Iraq war protesters were found not guilty on Wednesday of criminal trespassing for refusing to leave Senator Susan Collins' federal office last year.

A 12-person in a jury in a Penobscot Superior Court in Bangor deliberated for about two hours before finding the group not guilty.

Had they been found guilty the defendants could have been sentenced to six months in prison or fined $1,000.

The group went to meet with Collins to protest the Iraq war and encourage her not to vote for an Iraq war spending bill. The protesters wanted to talk with Collins, who one of the defendants said was not in the office that day. When the office closed, the building manager called the police.

Collins' district director testified at the request of one of the defendants and each defendant testified for themselves. The arresting officers testified against for the prosecution.

One interesting wrinkle in the case is that the Senate approved a measure late Monday authorizing the Senate to pay for Collins' legal fees.

This is from the Congressional Record on Wednesday: [The] Senate agreed to S. Res. 539, to authorize testimony and legal representation in State of Maine v. Douglas Rawlings, Jonathan Kreps, James Freeman, Henry Braun, Robert Shetterly, and Dudley Hendrick.

The trial was not short on politics. Senate candidate Tom Ledue, a Democrat, and Laurie Dobson, an independent, held a rally for them on Monday at the Bangor Public Library. Ralph Nader issued a statement in support of the group whose advocates are calling "The Bangor Six."

The People For the American Way endorsed Rep. Tom Allen, a Democrat, in his race against Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican.

The People for the American Way is a liberal group primarily concerned with civil rights and civil liberties issues.

In a statement, the group said it is backing Allen primarily because Collins supported President Bush's appointees to the Supreme Court: Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito.

Senator Susan Collins attended the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday as a guest of the National Journal magazine, a well-respected weekly that covers politics and policy issues.

The dinner is a big confab with Washington reporters, the President and other elected and government officials. The event has generated some bad press. In the 1990s, Don Imus, the radio disc jockey, told some off-color jokes about the Clintons' marriage. In 2006, Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report either spoke truth to power or embarrassed President Bush with his sharp sarcasm and ironic humor.

The White House Correspondents Association, which organizes the event, lost its nerve after Colbert's performance and invited Rich Little, who is known for his impersonations, in 2007.

Craig Ferguson, the host of CBS' "Late Late Show," performed on Saturday night.

The event was first held in 1914, but it really took off in 1987 when Michael Kelly, a journalist who was killed in Iraq at the start of the war in 2003, invited Fawn Hall, Oliver North's secretary in the White House. The next year Kelly invited Donna Rice, former Senator Gary Hart's flame on board the yacht, Monkey Business.

Senators Olympia Snowe and Carl Levin, a Democrat from Michigan, asked the U.S. attorney general on Tuesday to review a Board of Immigration ruling that the threat of genital mutilation is grounds for asylum, but those who have already fallen victim to it would not be eligible.

Snowe and Levin said in a statement that the ruling ignored "the real ongoing effects that victims of FGM are faced with for the remainder of their lives."

“The rationale behind the BIA’s decision fails to protect against this particularly heinous form of gender-based persecution and ignores the physical and psychological effects that harm that awaits women subjected to this horrifying practice in their home countries,” Snowe said in a statement. “Women who have fallen victim to FGM should not be forced to exist in an environment where they are vulnerable to further persecution.”

Snowe was approached by a group of academics who asked her to write the letter.

Tom Ledue, a Democrat running against Rep. Tom Allen in the Democratic Senate primary, said that Allen had rejected their calls for debates on television and radio.

"I don't know why Tom Allen would decline a chance to speak about his positions on issues that are impacting Mainers. If he truly desires to represent all of Maine, we have the right to hear what he has to say about the rising poverty rates in the state, the devaluation of the U.S. economy, and the degradation of our Constitution," said Ledue's campaign manager, Bob Doak.

Carol Andrews, Allen's spokeswoman, said that their invitations were on dates when Allen would be in Washington. They offered some dates on Saturdays, but Andrews said those were all taken until late June - well after the primary.

Allen's decision is hardly surprising. Frontrunners rarely want to debate because there is not much to gain and only gaffes to be made.

On another note, Ledue raised $18,000 and loaned himself $20,000. I have his campaign finance report and I'll look at it more closely to let you know who has given and how the money has been spent.

In the 1st Congressional District race, two Democratic candidate forums are scheduled for this week: Tuesday night in Scarborough, and Wednesday night in Limerick.

Here's the full schedule of campaign events:

Monday, April 28

5:30 p.m., Democrat Adam Cote attends a campaign house party at the home of Meg Baxter in Cape Elizabeth. For more information, call 347-3103.

Tuesday, April 29

7 p.m., Republican Dean Scontras holds “Evening with Dean” event, Town Office, 100 Main St., Topsham. For more information, call 432-2877.

5-7 p.m., Democrat Michael Brennan host a campaign house party hosted by Polly Blake and Skeek Frazee, 26 Brackett St., Portland.

7 p.m., Democrats Michael Brennan, Mark Lawrence, Chellie Pingree participate in a Democratic candidate forum, Scarborough Municipal Building, 259 Route One.

The Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group for gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgendered citizens, announced on Monday that it would begin training organizers to help elect "pro-equality" candidates.

HRC is supporting 10 incumbent senators for re-election, including Senator Susan Collins.

Collins is the only Republican that HRC is supporting. The organization also announced support for four Democratic challengers, including New Hampshire's former governor, Jeanne Shaheen.

Joe Solmonese, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, said that Collins has been supportive of issues important to gay and lesbian voters, including support of the Employment Nondiscrimination Act. The bill, which passed the House last year, would ban discrimination against gay and lesbian employees in the workplace.

On the scorecard from the 109th Congress Tom Allen had a 100% rating to Susan Collins’ 78%.

108th Congress: Tom Allen 100%, Susan Collins 88%

107th Congress: Tom Allen 100%, Susan Collins 86%

Here is the list of the 14 challengers and incumbents.

It will be another full week on Capitol Hill as the House and Senate return to Washington today and Tuesday.

First, we're expecting several thousand truckers to show up on the West Lawn of the Capitol (the side facing the Washington Monument) to protest the cost of fuel. We'll be tracking that story today.

Second, Democrats are hoping they can ink deals on a budget resolution and a farm bill. On Friday, lawmakers agreed on farm and nutrition programs and a finance package based mainly on maintaining customs fees.

House Democratic moderates dropped categorical opposition to a budget
without budget reconciliation and Alternative Minimum Tax offsets and opened
negotiations over alternatives.

Sen. Olympia Snowe's bill banning genetic discrimination, which passed the Senate 95 to 0, heads to the House where it is expected to win approval.

The biggest issue coming down the pike is a war spending bill. Democratic leaders are considering splitting the bill into three parts: spending for Iraq, new spending on domestic programs, such as extending unemployment benefits, suspending the Bush administration's plan to cut Medicaid, and infant nutrition funding, and a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq. The House will act before the Senate.

Democrat Adam Cote announced this afternoon that he's gotten the endorsement of the Council for a Livable World's Veterans' Alliance for Security and Democracy.

The group said in a letter that it based the endorsement partly on Cote's answers to a series of questions about foreign policy, veterans' issues and civil liberties. The letter also states that Cote's status as a veteran was a factor in the group's decision.

A national campaign finance-reform advocacy group is seeking to calm the waters following a recent fund-raising flap between Democrats Ethan Strimling and Chellie Pingree.

The group, Public Campaign Action Fund, issued a press release today urging voters in Maine's 1st Congressional District to evaluate the candidates' positions on campaign-finance reform, rather than listening to the accusations flying back and forth between candidates over certain contributions. The group, which supports public financing of congressional elections, noted that all six Democratic candidates in the race have pledged to support federal legislation based on Maine's Clean Elections act.

As I have written before, one goal I have with this blog is to pull back the curtain on what it's like to be a reporter, how we go about our jobs and how we interact with the people we cover and with each other.

Every day Congress is in session and sometimes when it is not, I show up to work at a desk in the Senate Press Gallery on the Capitol's third floor above the Senate Chamber. There is a row of seven cubicles and I'm at the end between the Chattanooga Times Free Press and the Tulsa World.

Like everyone else in every other office, gossip is rampant. There's always chatter about who's up, who's down, who's in, who's out (a combination of "The Apprentice" and "Project Runway").

That said, here's the buzz in the press gallery today.

Democrat Michael Brennan has released his campaign's first TV commercial. Its theme - working together - has emerged as a central message from the Brennan campaign.

Here's the 30-second commercial, which the Brennan campaign said was scheduled to air on WCSH, Channel 6, and WGME, Channel 13:

According to the Brennan campaign, this is the first ad in the 1st District congressional race to air on network television. Earlier, Democrat Steve Meister released a commercial that aired on cable TV.

– Kevin Wack

Democrat Chellie Pingree's campaign announced this morning that she's gotten the endorsement of the League of Conservation Voters in Washington, D.C.

Following the announcement, I took a look at how the Maine League of Conservation Voters has rated the four Democratic candidates who've served in the state Legislature.

Here are the past League ratings that I could find (ratings are on a 0-100 percent scale, with a 100 percent rating representing a perfect voting record):

Wednesday, April 23

7 p.m., Democrat Ethan Strimling attends a campaign house party hosted by Jed Rathband, 9 Everett St., Portland.

7-9 p.m., Republican Dean Scontras attends a public meeting at the Little Meeting House, 719 Roosevelt Trail, Windham.

Signaling that she is in full campaign mode, Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, announced her campaign leadership team and, Felicia Knight, Collins' deputy campaign manager, squabbled with the Maine Democratic Party over who was more or less partisan.

Collins' campaign leadership team includes some wise men of Maine politics. Co-chairmen Merton Henry, an attorney, and Scott Hutchinson, who worked for former Sen. Ed Muskie, a Democrat (a quick search of FEC records shows he has not contributed to a Democratic candidate lately).

Finance Chair Sam Ladd is the president and CEO of Maine Bank and Trust and Treasurer Leo Loiselle, an accountant, round out the team.

The Maine Democratic Party sent out a press release last week chastising Collins for voting for the war in Iraq, the Bush tax cuts and Bush's energy bill. Knight responded with her own release saying that Allen is just another partisan Democrat.

This tit-for-tat means little in the grand scheme of things. Such press releases are meant for reporters, activists and political junkies and that's why we share them here.

Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both Republicans, disagreed on Thursday on whether to create a House-Senate task force to investigate changes to a $10 million earmark in 2005.

Snowe voted against the proposal while Collins supported it. The measure failed 49 to 43, 60 votes were needed for passage.

Both senators voted to ask the Justice Department to launch a criminal investigation into whether a powerful lawmaker changed the earmark for a highway interchange in Florida after the House and Senate had approved the bill.

Collins joined 17 senators – 13 Republicans and four Democrats – who voted for both investigations.

House Democratic and Republican leaders support an investigation by the House Ethics Committee.

As everyone within range of a television or newspaper knows, the Pope conducted a Mass at the new Washington National's baseball park and many lawmakers, including Se. Susan Collins, a Republican, and Rep. Michael Michaud, a Democrat, were there.

The Congressional trade papers are filled with stories about Senator Robert Byrd, D-W. Va., the 90-year-old chairman of the Appropriations Committee, who is in poor health. Byrd, the longest serving senator ever, held his first hearing in weeks yesterday, trying to silence critics and end the scrutiny about whether he is up to the job.

Later today, Collins and Senators Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and Ben Nelson, D-Nebr., will say that the Iraqis ought to pay for more reconstruction and security costs.

Finally, Michaud and several Democrats and an Ohio Republican visited Iraq last weekend. We'll get some color from his trip later this afternoon.

And ... after breaking her wrist earlier this winter, Sen. Olympia Snowe, a Republican, finally had her cast removed. She now carries around a squeezable ball to strengthen the muscles in her forearm.

Members of the public are invited to attend the Libertarian Party of Maine’s annual convention on Saturday.

The convention features speeches by Dianne Gilbert of the National Heritage Center for Constitutional Studies and Katherine Albrecht of Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering. Also scheduled to speak is Dean Scontras, a Republican who’s running for Congress in Maine’s 1st District.

The convention, which starts at 9 a.m. and runs into the evening, is being held at the Governor’s Restaurant and Banquet Center, 700 Main St., South Portland. Admission for the speeches is $20, or $50 with a meal included.

Advance registration is preferred but not required. To register, call Dylan Robnett at 232-4975.

– Kevin Wack

On the Democratic side of the 1st District congressional race, Chellie Pingree remains the leader in raising money. She is ahead of the other five candidates in total money raised, money raised between January and March, and cash remaining on hand. Adam Cote is currently second in cash on hand, while Ethan Strimling is in second place in money raised between January and March, and in total money raised throughout the campaign.

Here are the numbers:

Total money raised by March 31:
Chellie Pingree - $1,116,163
Ethan Strimling - $500,950
Adam Cote - $461,310
Mark Lawrence - $415,619
Michael Brennan - $210,489
Steve Meister - $62,442

The latest fund-raising reports in the 1st District congressional race had to be filed by midnight last night. I'll be sorting through them today and writing a story for tomorrow's newspaper, but first I wanted to post some of the key numbers.

In the Republican contest, Dean Scontras has raised more money than Charlie Summers, but he's also spent more, and Summers has more remaining.

Senator Susan Collins' staffers beat Senator Olympia Snowe's staffers in the Cherry Blossom 10-miler, which was held on April 6.

Each team fielded five runners. Collins' office ran a combined time of 4 hours, 25 minutes and 19 seconds to finish 12 of 18 Senate teams.

Snowe's office ran a combined time of 4 hours, 31 minutes and 28 seconds to finish in 16th place.

Kay Gerard, Collins' scheduler from Madawaska, led the Maine delegation, finishing in 1:23.

Erik Neccia led Snowe's office in a time of 1:30:08.

With a midnight deadline looming, some initial fund-raising numbers are being released this afternoon in the 1st District congressional race.

Michael Brennan, who ranked fifth out of six Democratic candidates in fund-raising through Dec. 31, announced that he raised $59,102.16 between January and March. His campaign said it was its strongest three months of fund-raising to date.

"We are not going to buy this election with the most out-of-state donors or $2,300 contributions," Brennan campaign manager Peter Asen said in a press release, "but we are going to win it with the best ideas, the strongest grassroots support, and the most heart."

Dean Scontras, one of two Republicans in the race, announced that he raised $76,897.89 from 403 contributors between January and March.

"I'm humbled by the support my candidacy continues to receive from Mainers who are tired of politics as usual in Washington," Scontras said in a press release.

Look here for more on campaign fund-raising today and tomorrow...

– Kevin Wack

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, raised nearly $1 million during the first quarter of 2008 as she campaigns for a third term.

She raised $963,260, bringing her total to $5.52 million. She has $4.51 million in cash-on-hand.

As with Rep. Tom Allen's numbers, we need to wait for the Federal Election Commission to post the data to review where Collins raised her money and from whom.

Democratic Rep. Tom Allen reported on Tuesday that he has raised $3.7 million to date in his bid to unseat Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. He has $2.7 million cash-on-hand.

Allen had raised $2.9 million, and his campaign reported today that he raised $700,000 in the first quarter of 2008. He also has spent $1 million on staff, offices and other expenses.

When the Federal Election Commission makes the information public, we will have a better idea of who that money came from. Last month, Allen raised money in California and, in a last-minute plea before the quarter ended March 31, he wanted to raise $250,000. The numbers will tell us if he met that goal.

Carol Andrews, Allen's spokeswoman, said that the campaign raised an average of $250 from 2,654 contributors.

No word just yet on when Collins plans to release their fundraising numbers. We'll post the information here as soon as we get it.

When you win a seat in Congress, you give up a bit of privacy and some dignity. You also cede the right to celebrate your birthday with family and friends. Your birthday becomes another vehicle to raise money.

Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, turns 63 on April 16 (if you're into astrology, he's an Aries), and his wife, Diana, sent a fundraising pitch on Tuesday to potential donors. I got a copy because I'm on Allen's campaign e-mail list.

In her e-mail, Mrs. Allen exhorts donors to pony up because her husband "is going to need 100 percent of his friends’ and supporters’ help in the next six months if he is going to be successful in his challenge to Senator Susan Collins."

Sen. Susan Collins' birthday is on Dec. 7, about a month after the election.

Here's where you can find the 1st District congressional candidates this week:

Tuesday, April 15

6:30 p.m., Republican Dean Scontras attends the Cumberland County GOP meeting, Scarborough municipal building, 259 U.S. Route One.

Wednesday, April 16

12:15 p.m., Democrat Adam Cote speaks to the Biddeford/Saco Rotary Club, Captain's Galley restaurant, 168 Saco Ave., Old Orchard Beach.

Emily Little, 23, a junior at the University of Maine from Mount Desert Island was selected as the 2008 National Cherry Blossom Princess on Friday in Washington.

She is only the fourth Maine princess to be selected as the queen in the festival's 61-year history.

The Associated Press has a short story .

The Politico has a new feature called The Huddle , which provides a nice preview of what's happening in Congress on any given day.

The Pope is visiting Washington this week and he will conduct a mass at the Washington Nationals' new baseball stadium.

Of course, April 15 is tax day.

Last week, the Senate passed a housing bill that includes tax incentives for the purchase of homes now in foreclosure and relief for homebuilders and other money-losing businesses. The House would prefer a broader package that will likely see floor debate the last week of April.

The House will take up several bills this week, including a student loan measure and legislation that would cancel the debt of 24 developing nations. The Senate is taking up a bill to make technical corrections to a massive highway bill signed into law several years ago.

Both chambers must extend the nation's farm program. House and Senate Democrats cannot agree on how to move forward, stalling a new farm bill.

The Bush administration likely will request later this month $108 billion to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. President Bush has warned Congress not to load the bill with domestic spending initiatives.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the Armed Services Committee chairman, told Bloomberg News on Friday that Iraq out to start picking up the tab for the war.

It is the same suggestion that Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who also sits on the Armed Services Committee, made to Army Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker during their testimony last week.

Raising Iraq's share "is something we can do,'' said Levin said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. "We have the votes because there are enough Republicans who would join us on this.''

Here's the link to the interview .

Check out Vice President Cheney's sunglasses! Is it his forearm casting a line? A naked woman? What would the reflection look like if he were holding a shotgun?

Click here to get the final word on what it was the Veep was looking at.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is the head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Earlier this week, he held a briefing for reporters about the state of the most competitive Senate races in the country.

I could not attend the press conference because I was listening to Gen. David Petraeus, but later in the afternoon I talked to Schumer in a hallway in the Capitol for about two minutes to get his quick take on the Senate race.

I had heard from a colleague at another publication that Schumer did not put Maine's senate race in the top group of races and I asked him what he said at the press conference regarding Maine's senate race and why he did not include Maine's race in the top tier of Senate races.

Schumer said he broke the races into two tiers. The first tier included Virginia, Colorado, and New Mexico. Those are open seats where a GOP incumbent is retiring and polls show Democrats leading.

The second tier included Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Oregon, the so-called "Blue" states where Republican incumbents face re-election. In those states, the Republican incumbent still leads.

I asked if he was pleased with Allen's campaign (not much of a question, but the elevator door was closing) and Schumer said yes. But then he added, "And he's an independent."

"Independent of what?"

"The President."

I guess it is no surprise there either that Allen and the DSCC strategy is to link Collins' voting record to President Bush.

Schumer and his Republican counterpart, Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, likely will have more press conferences as we get closer to November and hopefully there won't be a scheduling conflict.

Last week, Rep. Tom Allen, a Democrat, proposed helping first time home buyers with a tax credit ($3,000 for single filers; $6,000 for joint filers). Washington, D.C., residents have had a similar credit of $5,000 for about the past 10 years, and, for purposes of full disclosure, I took advantage of it in 1998 to help buy my first condo (this was well before the run up in the real estate market).

Allen held a press conference to tout his new idea and to show who would benefit he brings along a young couple, Mike Cuzzi and Heather Quinn. The only thing is that Cuzzi worked for Allen and he worked for Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign through the New Hampshire primary. Quinn worked for Rep. Michael Michaud, D-Maine.

The day of the press conference, Kevin Kelly, Sen. Susan Collins' press secretary, pointed this out to me. I asked Mark Sullivan, Allen's press secretary, about the connection between Cuzzi and Allen, and Sullivan said it was true.

"We know them and they fit the profile," Sullivan said in a phone interview on Friday. "We were upfront about who they are and introduced them as former employees. This has nothing to do with their status of their employment."

To be sure, there are other young couples with families in Maine who could benefit from Allen's proposal and it is unclear why they could not find a couple without any ties to his congressional office or his campaign.

Laurie Dobson is furious because of a brief report at PoliticalExtra on Wednesday that Gerald Weinand, the administrator of the liberal blog Turn Maine Blue, had banned her from the site.

To be fair, for those readers that might care, here's what Dobson wrote in full.
Click here.

One thing I'd like to do at the blog is pull back the curtain a bit on interaction between reporters and sources. Dobson complained that I didn't call her for comment or post her side of the story. If this were a full-blown story, I definitely would have called her. In a very small world - such as this blog -Weinand not giving Dobson a chance to blog at TMB is news. But it is not news in the big scheme of things.

Marc Ambinder, a political blogger at The Atlantic Monthly magazine, is one of the best political reporters in Washington. He's started compiling his own short lists for vice presidential picks for Senators John McCain and Barack Obama. I am not sure why he did not include Senator Hillary Clinton. The lists are below.

Also, I want to thank those of you for pointing out that I misspelled Army Gen. David P-E-T-R-A-E-U-S.

Here's a postscript to a story I wrote back in February.

At the time, Republican congressional candidate Dean Scontras was more than five months late in filing a mandatory financial disclosure statement with the House Ethics Committee in Washington, D.C. Scontras said the delay was an oversight. He vowed to file the report soon.

A short time later, Scontras did file the report. A few days ago, my colleague in Washington, Jonathan Kaplan, picked up a copy.

Laurie Dobson wants to land a spot on the ballot to run as an independent candidate in Maine's U.S. Senate race, but she won't be able to rally support from Netroots activists at TurnMaineBlue .

Gerald Weinand, the site's administrator and prolific contributor, banned Dobson from contributing to the liberal blog because she accused Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, of being corrupt without offering any specific evidence.

Please see Gerald's post below. I've deleted one word Gerald used to describe Dobson's accusation and I've edited some of his spelling errors. I cleaned up the text, too, correcting some typos and such.

On Tuesday, Army Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee. There's a lot of coverage in today's newspaper and in other papers from around the country.

The hearing room in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Constitution Ave., across the street from the Capitol, was jam packed. Here's a good look at the types of people - besides reporters and congressional aides - who attended the hearing.

Below is my time line.

A new poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports, a nonpartisan polling firm, shows that Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, leads her likely Democratic opponent, Rep. Tom Allen, by 16 points, 54 to 38 percent.

The poll reported that Collins leads Allen by 20 points among men, 17 points among women, and 20 points among unaffiliated voters.

Collins has a combined 72 percent very and somewhat favorable rating and a 27 combined somewhat and very unfavorable rating. Allen’s numbers are 59 and 34 percent, respectively.

Throughout 2006, pollsters told me that an incumbent's favorable/unfavorable rating is a better indicator than the horse race number because it is a better signal of incumbent strength and weakness.

When a favorable/unfavorable rating drops below 50, it is very dangerous for an incumbent. However, as Allen keeps pointing out, former GOP Sen. Lincoln Chafee’s favorable rating dropped from 76 to 67 percent and Sheldon Whitehouse still trounced him.

There are going to be a lot of polls by outside groups, some reputable, some not. But what we really want to see are the campaigns' internal polls. They are done by reliable and professional pollsters and usually more complete.

The Rasmussen poll was conducted April 1 and surveyed 500 people. The margin of error is 4.5 percent. Rasmussen polls are automated phone calls to potential voters. A recording asks questions and a responder punches in numbers to answer (1 for yes, 2 for no). I've never received a call. If anyone has, let me know if this is accurate.

Ethan Strimling's campaign announced today that it has returned a $250 campaign contribution from one of fellow Democrat Chellie Pingree's donors.

The Strimling camp also questioned the motivation behind the donation, calling it a "dirty trick."

The online contribution was made by Selwyn Sussman of Rye Brook, N.Y., on March 28, according to the Strimling campaign. Today's press release states that the money arrived hours after the Strimling campaign sent an e-mail to its supporters criticizing Pingree for accepting around $60,000 in contributions from executives and employees of a hedge fund called Paloma Partners.

Paloma Partners is headed by S. Donald Sussman, who lists a Virgin Islands address on contributions to Pingree. (See this recent article by Chris Busby of The Bollard for more on Sussman's contributions to Pingree.) Sussman has also made campaign contributions using an address in Greenwich, Conn.

Here's this week's schedule of events:

Monday, April 7

7 p.m., Democrats Mark Lawrence, Chellie Pingree and Michael Brennan, Republican Dean Scontras, and other candidates are expected to attend a candidate forum hosted by the Maine Veterans Coordinating Committee, Augusta Armory, 179 Western Ave., Augusta.

Tuesday April 8

8:30 a.m., Democrat Mark Lawrence speaks to the Heart of Biddeford Donut Club, Reilly's Bakery, 232 Main St., Biddeford. The meeting will be followed by a tour of downtown businesses.

5:30 p.m., Democrat Ethan Strimling attends a campaign party at the Freeport Community Center, 53 Depot St., Freeport.

7 p.m., Republican Dean Scontras attends a meet and greet event hosted by the Saco-Old Orchard Beach Republican Committee, People's Choice Credit Union, 23 Industrial Park Road, Saco.

A political nemesis of Republican Sen. Susan Collins is facing a primary challenge.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat, pestered Collins for years to hold hearings into Halliburton and other civilian contractors in Iraq. Collins said any investigations would have been duplicative and that other offices were keeping her committee abreast of waste, fraud and abuse.

Now, Lautenberg, 84, faces a primary challenge from Rep. Rob Andrews, a 50-year-old Democrat, who has been itching to win statewide for the last 10 years (he lost a gubernatorial primary race in 1997).

Lautenberg is heavily favored. He served for 18 years, took a two-year hiatus and won again after Sen. Robert Torrecelli, a Democrat, announced he would not run again in 2002.

Even though Lautenberg is heavily favored and New Jersey's GOP's top picks have decided not to run, primaries are never easy to win and, in politics, anything can happen. That has to have Collins smiling.

Gen. David Patraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker will testify before Congress on Tuesday.

Their testimony comes amid bloody fighting in Sadr City and after last week's battle in the southern Iraqi city of Basara,

Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican nominee, and Democratic Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton also will get to question (lecture?) the general and ambassador.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, also will get a chance to question the general and ambassador when they testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Senate Democrats will press Republicans to join them in offering a second stimulus package to help stem home foreclosures and extend unemployment insurance payments.

Here's what's happening with the rest of the Maine delegation:

Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, introduced a bipartisan legislation that would allow small business owners to pool resources across state lines to make health insurance more affordable.

Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, introduced legislation last week that would give first time home buyers a $5,000 tax credit (those of us living in Washington, D.C., have had access to this credit since 1997 because it was part of a budget agreement between President Clinton and former Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.).

He also introduced a bill to improve Internet access in rural areas, and is holding a press conference today in Bangor to promote the legislation.

If President Bush sends a free trade agreement up to Capitol Hill for ratification, watch for Rep. Michael Michaud, D-Maine, to lead the opposition.

Every year, the Citizens Against Government Waste, a government watchdog group, compiles the Congressional Pig Book, a list of the pork-barrel projects in the federal budget.

The 2008 Pig Book identified 11,610 projects at a cost of $17.2 billion in the 12 Appropriations Acts for fiscal 2008. The group defines pork as "a line-item project in an appropriations bill that designates tax dollars for a specific purpose in circumvention of established budgetary procedures."

The group singles out specific earmarks for an "oinker" award and, thankfully for us here at PoliticalExtra, the group singled out a project for Maine.

"The Taxpayers Get Steamed Award" goes to to GOP Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe and Rep. Thomas Allen, a Democrat, for $188,000 for the Lobster Institute.

We'll dig into the Lobster Institute later, but for now check out the Pig Book here.

In June 2006, when Chandler Woodcock of Farmington secured the Republican nomination for governor, a good deal of the credit went to religious conservatives.

The Maine Right to Life Committee provided a phone message for the Woodcock campaign to send to voters. The Maine Jeremiah Project, headed by Bob Emrich, worked to contrast Woodcock's conservative views on issues like abortion with the positions of his more socially moderate Republican opponents.

Now a similar coaltion of religious conservatives is going to bat for Dean Scontras of Eliot in his race for the 1st District congressional nomination.

From Roll Call on Wednesday, April 2, 2008:

In releasing polling Tuesday that sought to bolster its argument that Americans oppose “card-check” legislation for unionized workers, the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace also released polls on three of the most hotly contested Senate races of the cycle.

In Colorado, the Republican polling firm McLaughlin & Associates found Rep. Mark Udall (D) leading former Rep. Bob Schaffer (R), 44 percent to 32 percent. The survey of 400 likely general election voters taken March 6-9 had a 4.9-point margin of error.

In Maine, Sen. Susan Collins (R) had a solid lead over Rep. Tom Allen (D), 54 percent to 31 percent. The poll of 400 likely voters March 6-9 had a 4.9-point error margin.

In Minnesota, Sen. Norm Coleman (R) had a 46 percent to 40 percent lead over comedian Al Franken (D) in the McLaughlin poll. The pollster interviewed 500 likely voters March 6-9. The poll had a 4.5-point error margin.

The poll found in all three states that non-union households were far more likely to support the Republican candidates, and also suggested that voters are less likely to support candidates who favor a card-check process for union membership, a provision favored by unions and many Democratic leaders.

The Senate will consider a housing relief bill this afternoon. Last month, Republicans managed to block a similar bill. But as the housing crisis and economy have worsened, Democrats believed they might be able to peel off a few more votes.

Last night, the House approved a bill introduced by Rep. Tom Allen, a Democrat, that would centralize funding for a nationwide ocean-monitoring system, which is modeled on the Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System (GoMOOS). Sen. Olympia Snowe, a Republican, has companion legislation pending in the Senate.

It's also April Fools Day and Roll Call, a four-day a week publication for congressional insiders, has a very funny front page with the beginnings of fake stories (the paper is subscription only so readers cannot really find anything at its web site).

Here are some of the jokes:

"Clinton, Obama Working it Out? Harris Urges them to make-up."

That is, Katherine Harris, the former GOP congresswoman and Florida secretary of state, who played a prominent role in the 2000 election recount.

"GOP to Grab One Open Seat."
The story goes on to say that House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, decided to write off Republican chances in the fall and will spend his campaign funds buying a skybox at the Washington Nationals' new stadium.

"Putting More Mirth in Murtha."
The story goes on to say that Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., the defense appropriations subcommittee chairman and a big backer of earmark - or pork barrel - spending, has sworn off pork and converted to Judaism.