Wake-Up Call: Monday, August 18, 2008

With the PolitickerME.com Wake-Up Call e-mailed to your inbox, phone, Blackberry or PDA first thing in the morning, you can get a rundown of Maine's top political headlines. Sign up to get the Wake-Up Call delivered every morning.

With the PolitickerME.com Wake-Up Call e-mailed to your inbox, phone, Blackberry or PDA first thing in the morning, you can get a rundown of Maine's top political headlines. Sign up to get the Wake-Up Call delivered every morning.

Roll call for Hillary: Her delegates say yes, Obama delegates divided

Maine’s delegates to the Democratic National Convention are on both sides of the fence when it comes to having a roll call vote for Hillary Clinton.

Presumptive nominee Barack Obama’s campaign made the announcement along with Clinton’s campaign that Clinton’s name will be submitted for nomination in the first round of balloting. (PolitickerME.com, Jessica Alaimo)

Link: http://www.politickerme.com/jessicaalaimo/2200/roll-call-hillary-her-del...

Fight is on to add Nader to ballot

PORTLAND— Backers of independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader have submitted what they say is far more than the minimum number of signatures they need to place his name on the November ballot in Maine. (Seacoast Online, AP)

Link: http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080816/NEWS/808160318/-1/rss56

Allen, Collins denounce TV ad

AUGUSTA — A political advertisement featuring an actor who played a mobster on “The Sopranos” apparently portraying a labor union boss, which is critical of U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, is being denounced by both the Allen and U.S. Sen. Susan Collins campaigns.

Allen, a Democrat, and Collins, a Republican, are running against each other for the U.S. Senate.The televised ad, paid for by the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, suggests that Allen, because he was a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act, wants to deny workers the right to vote by secret ballot when deciding whether to join a union. (Portland Press Herald, Keith Edwards)

Link: http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=205098&ac=PHnws

Maine governors raise money for governor's mansion

AUGUSTA—Gov. John Baldacci and four former Maine governors joined together in celebrating and raising money for the Blaine House, the official residence of the governor. (Boston Globe, AP)

Link: http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2008/08/16/maine_governors_raise_money_for_governors_mansion/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Maine+news

Hoffman: 'I'm going to be on the ballot'

BELFAST - Herbert Hoffman, the retired psychologist who is running as an independent in the U.S. Senate race against Rep. Tom Allen and Sen. Susan Collins, told a small group of supporters Saturday that he believes the United States Constitution is on his side in his effort to get his name on the statewide ballot this November. (Bangor Daily News, Bill Trotter)

Link: http://bangornews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=168552&zoneid=500

Maine task force studies department consolidation

AUGUSTA— The Baldacci administration is looking for the public's input as a special task force studies the idea of consolidating the work of Maine's five natural resource-related departments. (Seacoast Online, AP)

Link: http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080816/NEWS/808160316/-1/rss56

Baldacci releases energy plan

AUGUSTA -- Gov. John Baldacci today announced his short-term plan to help Maine residents cope with high heating costs, a move he said eliminates the need for a special legislative session. (Maine Today, Susan M. Cover)

Link: http://news.mainetoday.com/updates/031610.html

Special Report: Welfare in Maine after '96 reform act

It's been more than 10 years since then-President Bill Clinton signed into law a piece of legislation that became known as the Welfare Reform Act.

The bill, officially known as the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, provided a mandate for states to begin reforming their respective welfare systems. Since each state was given flexibility to implement its own policies, each has varied considerably in its successes or failures. (Bangor Daily News, Eric Russell)

Link: http://bangornews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=168549&zoneid=500

Collins remarks on Edwards draw mixed public response

The video clip of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins speculating that former Democratic Sen. John Edwards could be the father of a child born to a woman with whom he had an affair continued to make the rounds on the Internet on Friday.

And a split public reaction was evident from the comments that poured in on more than a dozen local and national Web sites that linked to the video. (Portland Press Herald, Trevor Maxwell)

Link: http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=205032&ac=PHnws

Smoking ban with children in cars starts Sept. 1

AUGUSTA--It will be illegal as of Sept. 1 to smoke in a car if a child younger than 16 is riding along, under a law passed earlier this year by the Legislature. (Village Soup, Victoria Wallack)

Link: http://www.waldo.villagesoup.com/Government/story.cfm?storyID=124297

Burlington wants money back or Gendron out

BURLINGTON - Gov. John Baldacci should seek the resignation of Education Commissioner Susan Gendron if she cannot compel SAD 31 board member Bruce Hallett to return $17,152.50 earned illegally as a school renovation liaison. (Bangor Daily News, Nick Sambides)

Link: http://bangornews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=168508&zoneid=500

Indian Island: Penobscots narrow slate of candidates

INDIAN ISLAND- In a primary election held this week, Penobscot Indian Nation members whittled down the number of candidates for six open tribal council seats and the position of vice chief.

In all, 367 tribal members participated in Tuesday’s vote, according to town officials. (Bangor Daily News, Eric Russell)

Link: http://bangornews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=168509&zoneid=500

State committees to hold confirmation hearings

AUGUSTA — Several legislative committees will be back at the State House this week to hold confirmation hearings on nominees for various councils and commissions.

Lawmakers must take their committee votes before Wednesday, when the full Senate will be in session to make final decisions on the nominees. (Portland Press Herald, Staff)

Link: http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=205295&ac=PHnws

In the trenches, political races are won and lost lost

It's a beautiful August evening, and Bill Gardiner should be out on the golf course, teeing one up.

Instead, the 59-year-old Falmouth resident hunches over a folding table in a Portland office building, where a dozen people sit elbow to elbow at a bank of telephones.

Gardiner punches a number into his telephone keypad, pauses, and reads casually from a printed script.

"Good evening," he says into the receiver. "My name is Bill, and I'm a volunteer for the Maine Republican Party." (Portland Press Herald, Dieter Bradbury)

Link: http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=205106&ac=PHnws

With the PolitickerME.com Wake-Up Call e-mailed to your inbox, phone, Blackberry or PDA first thing in the morning, you can get a rundown of Maine's top political headlines. Sign up to get the Wake-Up Call delivered every morning.