It was quite a day in Maine, which will caucus tomorrow for the Democratic presidential candidate. I’m not sure if I remember the last time that Maine was important during a presidential race, but in a race this tight our 24 Democratic delegates are hot commodities and both candidates spoke at separate rallies. Hillary roused a crowd with one of her town-hall events at the University of Maine in Orono. http://bangornews.com/news/t/city.aspx?articleid=159999&zoneid=176. Obama packed them in at the Bangor Civic Center, famous locally as the home of the state’s high school basketball tournament and the giant statue of Paul Bunyan. Bangor isn’t usually on the itinerary of rock-star politicos but seemed to really enjoy the attention.

http://bangornews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=160007&zoneid=500.

My on-the-spot sources (my mom, dad, sister and friend Robin) all reported that the Civic Center with Obama was the place to be, with 5,700 people packed inside and another 1,000 who couldn’t get in. Maine, by the way, is the second-whitest state in the country. Interesting.Only one person in my small sample group tried to hear Hillary, and he was turned away at the door of her event.
My dad, a rock-solid Republican type, called me twice from the Civic Center: once while in line to describe how many people were waiting outside in the cold to see the candidate, and once from inside the auditorium during the candidate’s speech. Dad held up his phone so that I could hear Obama speak a bit and then whispered “He’s very good” before the crowd erupted into ear-splitting applause.
My sister brought her two little girls from their home more than an hour and a half away so they’d have the chance to ‘see history.’ Nice. Everyone who phoned me while waiting in line sounded excited to be part of the Obama-craze. They were bumping into their neighbors and friends and enjoying the general air of festivity – even in the snow, even in our bone-white state, even in the company of Republicans.