My birthplace! It was once said As Maine goes, so goes the Nation.
Well, not so much nowadays.
Failures within Maine’s Divided Democratic Party have given us Republican Governor Paul LePage — twice. And at this week’s chaotic Democratic Party convention the divide deepened as surrogates for Sanders and Clinton took the stage.
BDN:
Former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts endured heckling throughout his speech on behalf of Clinton, ranging from yells of “sellout” to “go back to Massachusetts.”
Frank responded in stride.
“What is it about the concept of allowing the speaker to speak that offends you?” asked Frank, drawing applause from most of the audience of some 3,000 or more.
Despite that chasm, Frank and others made it clear that whomever is the Democratic nominee will be a better choice for Democrats than presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.
“My point today is to make the case for people who have been supportive for Bernie Sanders to vote for Hillary Clinton if she is the nominee,” said Frank.
Looking forward, the Party decided to change some rules for selecting delegates for the 2020 race:
Earlier on Saturday, the convention approved what will be a major change to Maine’s process of allowing superdelegates to vote for whomever they want.
In Maine, where nearly 64 percent of Democrats supported Sanders in the March caucuses, three of the five superdelegates have indicated support for Hillary Clinton. One supports Bernie Sanders and the fifth has not indicated a preference.
The amendment, which was proposed by Portland Rep. Diane Russell, who is a Bernie Sanders supporter, will take effect in 2020 and also includes clauses to “strongly encourage” Maine’s five superdelegates to vote accordingly this year.
Here’s hoping #MaineDems can get their act together.
