Click more to view videos of both Stephen King and John Kerry talking about uneducated people getting stuck in Iraq.

Peter Cianchette was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica by the U.S. Department of State today.

When he was confirmed, Sen. Olympia Snowe was the first to release a statement. Today, Sen. Susan Collins got the first word:

“Peter is a dedicated, hard working and well-liked individual who will serve our nation well as U.S Ambassador to Costa Rica.  The United States and Costa Rica have a long history of friendship and cooperation, and Peter is an outstanding choice to further strengthen this relationship. He will, no doubt, start from the ground running in his new position and make Maine and the rest of the nation proud of his public service.

“I hope I am the first to congratulate the newly-minted ‘Ambassador Cianchette’.”

Former state Senate President Dennis “Duke” Dutremble of Biddeford today endorsed Mark Lawrence, a Democratic candidate for the First Congressional District.

Dutremble led the Maine Senate in 1993 and 1994.

He said Lawrence is the best candidate to address the many problems with politics in Washington, including gridlock and a lack of accountability, according to a statement from the campaign.

Dutremble said: “From high gas prices to health care, Mark Lawrence best understands the pressures facing working and middle class families in Maine. He is the best equipped candidate to effectively fight for us on these issues.”

Lawrence said: “I am very honored to be endorsed by Duke. Knowing how well he and his family have represented the city of Biddeford, York County and the state of Maine, I hope to emulate that tradition in Congress.”

Following the League of Young Voters’ endorsements, announced Tuesday, the organization has released a guide for young voters in Portland.

The guide elaborates on the league’s endorsements, explaining in detail why the candidates were chosen.

It covers the primary races for the U.S. House and Senate races, state House Districts 114 and 120, state Senate district 8 and the two bond referendum questions.

The league will release another voter’s guide in the fall for the general election.

They described their endorsement process:

“In order to receive endorsement, candidates and issues needed to win a simple majority using an Instant Runoff Voting ballot. Our multi-partisan Elections Committee then spends up to 8 hours a week researching and interviewing candidates. Committed League members who have racked up 8 hours of volunteer time are allowed to then vote on their favorite candidates. We are focused and committed to ensuring that our endorsed candidates have the skills and background necessary for elected office and would be excellent advocates on the issues affecting young people.”

Following Tuesday’s Indiana and North Carolina primaries, many are calling for Hillary Clinton to quit the race. What do you think? Should she? Is the continued divisiveness between her and Barack Obama hurting the Democratic Party?

Leave a comment and let us know!

Her supporters say she should stay in, and call for the votes in Michigan and Florida to be counted.

Her opponents say she should drop out because she trails in the popular vote and delegate count.

What do you think?

Congressional candidate Adam CoteThe Maine Association of Police endorsed Adam Cote yesterday in the 1st congressional district Democratic primary.

MAP represents the interests of Maine’s police officers. In a statement, Executive Director Paul Gaspar said:

"Our members, as with all working Maine people, are feeling the impact of our changing economy. Hard working Maine people are being forced to make difficult decisions to best care for their families and meet the rising costs of housing, food and the energy we use to heat our homes and get to and from work. Adam's experience in energy policy sets him apart from the crowd."

Democratic Congressional candidate Michael Brennan delivered a letter to members of Maine’s Congressional delegation yesterday detailing why funding for the Iraq War should be cut off.

The letter, delivered to Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, and Rep. Tom Allen, began:

Click more to view the Monty Python video clip this cartoon is based on.

Government students at the University of Maine at Machias are hosting a forum for primary candidates for House District 32 and Washington County Commissioners District 2.

PolitickerME.com has sent out surveys to all the legislative candidates in primary races. Our intention is to use the surveys to profile each race.

We know you’re busy, but hope you’ll take the time to answer our questions. We tried to keep it brief.

For those new to PolitickerME.com, we take a non-partisan approach to covering politics on all levels. Our Web site gets about 25,000 hits per week from an audience interested in Maine politics.

Candidates should have surveys in their e-mail boxes tonight. We’re not asking for them back by May 30, but ask candidates who plan to fill the survey out by e-mail to let us know. We will mail the surveys out to those who don’t respond by the end of the week.

If you are a primary candidate and did not receive the survey, please e-mail Jessica.alaimo@politickerme.com.

We will send surveys to general election candidates later this summer.