LEWISTON — Maine Democrats accepted several routine amendments to their platform Saturday, but rejected an attempt by a gubernatorial candidate to make specific reference to the tea-party inspired Republican Party platform.

Rosa Scarcelli, one of four Democrats running for governor, presented an amendment from the floor called a “rejection of extremism.”
In its original form it read: “We reject the narrow, isolationist and extremist views expressed in the Maine Republican Party Platform, and reaffirm the Maine Democratic Party as one of inclusion, common sense and responsible government reflecting the true values and concerns of Maine people.”
Scarcelli said she wanted Democrats to set themselves apart as the party of “common sense.”

Several delegates who spoke in opposition said they did not think it was appropriate to directly reference another political party in the platform. It was then amended to strike the works “expressed in the Maine Republican Party Platform,” but was still rejected by an overwhelming number of delegates.

Two weeks ago, Maine Republicans adopted a platform that described global warming as a myth, called for the elimination of the Department of Education, and supported the rejection of a United Nations treaty on “Rights of the Child.”

Several of the Democratic speakers at the convention Friday night criticized the GOP platform as extreme.

On Saturday, Democrats adopted a platform that calls for “a national, universal, single-payer and nonprofit health care system” and encourages passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. It also supports gay marriage and urges a “path to legal residence for undocumented immigrants.”
 
MaineToday Media State House Reporter Susan Cover can be contacted at 620-7015 or at: scover@centralmaine.com