The seemingly endless animal presidential campaign on the Flatley farm in West Gorham – covered in this space last week – continues. The sheep have already chosen Billy Goat as their candidate and he is spending his time visiting his old hangouts, explaining his life as a lamb. But the contest among the birds remains undecided between Alhambra the tawny duck and Myrtle the hissing goose. Consequently, it is now possible that the votes of the so-called super bird delegates may decide who will be the eventual bird candidate in November.

These super delegates – crows who are generally older and presumably wiser – are free to vote for whomever they chose at the bird convention later this spring. But, rather than keeping their wise counsel to themselves, some of them have already announced their intentions, for reasons as varied as the glittering bits of trash that attract crows. Among these are:

1. Opportunity for reward. For example, a female crow named Gov. Soprano wants to be the farm monitor of justice and knows that Myrtle wouldn’t choose her – but Alhambra might. Or a Spanish-speaking, sombrero-wearing, plump governor pigeon joined the Alhambra team, mariachi band playing, castanets clacking. He wants to be vice president.

2. “Don’t get mad, get even.” Alhambra has been in farm management only one term. Before that, he was still swimming in a duckling pond with other ducklings. Myrtle the goose, however, has been in farm management two terms and for years before that was long associated with a wheeler-dealer gander president. Consequently, there has been much opportunity for “crossing” (or double-crossing) other birds. Consequently, the “get even” votes seem to be largely aimed at Myrtle. One or two crows have actually gloated as they stuck the knife of revenge into her goose grease by crowing loudly about the superb, unmatched, qualifications of Alhambra – no less than his good looks.

3. Personal ego. Old Sen. Ted Eagle who, in his youth, was a chicken hawk but has claimed to be an eagle for some years now, has a genetic need for the spotlight. An early endorsement of Alhambra provided him a good deal of that delicious commodity. Also, by announcing his intentions with great fanfare, he may have hoped to swing some other bird votes.

4. Gender. Among those crows who have announced support of Myrtle, gender seems to matter. One prominent female sparrow, an ex-vice presidential candidate, sympathized with Myrtle, saying that Alhambra could not have achieved his lofty position without his tawny feathers. This caused much squawking and feather ruffling among other birds and she quickly flew off to her perch on a telephone wire. Nancy Hen, currently the speaker of the farm animal congress, grimaced through an entire news conference while she damned Myrtle with faint praise. Her motives were obscured, but gender envy is not to be discounted.

5. Various mental considerations. As in all political bodies, there are persons of poor reasoning, delusions of adequacy, confused recall, and envy and deficient digestion. Birds backing both candidates seemed to fit some of those categories. For example, ex-President Jimmy Owl, whose constant, blinding smile hides his deep reverence for minutiae, is one. He rotates slowly in a fog of hints and winks – all aimed Alhambra’s direction.

6. Faint of heart – or simply dim. There are those either cowardly or stupid who have announced that they intend to vote for the “majority” candidate – the one with the most bird caucus votes. They seem not to realize that such a vote disembowels the rationale for which the crow super delegate system was created. The fact that such action makes them personally superfluous seems not to have disturbed their bird minds.

Farmer Flatley, who watches the animal election closely, wonders why the birds have crow super delegates if they only vote to restate earlier majorities.

“In such case, why do they have a convention? Save the money spent on hotels and booze and buy some Current ads,” he thinks.

The next big maneuver in this bird campaign occurs this month, when a bird caucus is scheduled in the Penn. It may decide the winner. And it may not. Stay tuned.

Rodney Quinn, who lives in Gorham, is a former Maine secretary of state. He can be reached at [email protected].