Adam Cote

Adam Cote picked up the endorsements of the Business Industry Political Action Committee and the Maine Credit Union this week.

BIPAC is a national organization backed by major corporations such as PricewaterhouseCoopers, which gave them $10,000 in this election cycle, Southern Electric Company, $5,000, General Motors, $1,000 and Halliburton Company, $1,000. The bulk of the candidates endorsed by the group are Republicans.

Cote is the only Democrat BIPAC has endorsed this cycle. Campaign manager Tom Janenda said Cote appeals to a broad base of people because of the need to elect more people with real world experience to Congress.

UPDATE: Pingree released a second ad Thursday. 

First Congressional District candidate Chellie Pingree, a Democrat, released an advertisement Tuesday centered on her opposition to the war in Iraq – both in 2002 when she ran for Senate and now.

“It was uncommon, Chellie Pingree had the courage to oppose the war in Iraq from the beginning, even when other Democrats supported George Bush,” the ad begins.

In the ad, she argues that money in Iraq would be better spent on health care, job creation and education.

This comes after two of her opponents, Democrats Adam Cote and Ethan Strimling, criticized her for being inconsistent in her position on funding the war. Saturday, Major General Paul Eaton wrote a letter to the editor to the Portland Press Herald, disassociating himself from the Pingree campaign and endorsing Cote, an Iraq veteran, instead.

First District Congressional Candidate Ethan Strimling has called one of his opponents "inconsistent" on her Iraq war position, accusing her of "sending mixed messages".

In a statement released by the campaign, Mr. Strimling refers to a recent dust up in which Pingree made several public appearances and pronouncements supporting a withdrawal plan. The Strimling campaign has pointed out that Pingree has said she favors an immediate end to the war, yet she also signed on to a plan that withdraws troops and reduces US involvement over a period of time. That plan is known as the Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq.

PolitickerME.com will post audio from the debate in a bit

It was a small event, but nonetheless a fitting venue for Charlie Summers’ first event on the campaign trail.

Summers, a Republican First Congressional District candidate, participated in a candidates forum Monday night at a veterans’ home in his home town, Scarborough.

Summers returned home from Iraq Saturday evening, and spent most of Monday filing the necessary paperwork to get off active duty. For the past nine months his wife, Ruth Summers, has stood in for him on the campaign trail.

Two very different First Congressional District candidates announced advertising campaigns today bearing the same central theme: the need for fresh faces in Washington.

“Times are tough right now, and career politicians don’t seem to be able to get anything done,” begins Democrat Adam Cote in his television advertisement.

“We live in challenging times, and career politicians seem less concerned about improving our way of life,” begins a radio advertisement for Republican candidate Dean Scontras.

Chellie Pingree has a problem. Although, it remains to be seen if it is necessarily a bad problem to have. A few weeks ago she had a great PR week with her press event announcing her intention to support "A responsible plan to end the war in Iraq." PolitickerME covered the story here. In addition to a press conference with General Johns, Ms. Pingree also co-authored an op-ed with Major General Paul Eaton, a lead advocate of the plan to leave Iraq.

Fast forward to this week. On Saturday, May 10th, Major General Eaton apparently had second thoughts on his Pingree endorsement. He sent a letter to the editor of the Portland Press Herald that read in part,

"I recently agreed to allow Chellie Pingree to lend her name to an op-ed column I wrote in support of a very serious plan to end the war in Iraq responsibly ("Democrats sign on to plan to end the Iraq war") published in this paper on April 22. I am writing today to disassociate myself from Chellie Pingree's campaign and endorse Adam Cote's bid for Congress in Maine's 1st District."

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."

Thursday was the fifth anniversary of the day President Bush gave a speech declaring “Mission Accomplished” – that all major combat operations in Iraq were over. It made for a good opportunity for Democratic candidates to speak out against the war.

Adam Cote, a Democratic candidate in the First Congressional District visited the Westbrook Armory and outlined a plan to help meet veterans’ needs. Cote was shipped out from the Westbrook Armory in 2004 when he was deployed to Iraq.

The Maine Democratic Party’s coordinated campaign also responded to the anniversary, along with U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, who is challenging Collins and Congressional candidate Chellie Pingree.

Also this week, proposals by two members of Maine’s Congressional delegation regarding the military were approved.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins touted a decision by the Senate Armed Services Committee, who approved her proposal to make Iraqis assume costs for reconstruction and other projects Wednesday night.

Also, U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud helped author two veterans’ health care bills that passed this week.

Reaching out to the young, tech-savvy crowd, Tom Allen’s campaign sent out a message via Facebook today advertising the campaign’s new video podcast.

Allen, who represents Maine’s First Congressional District in Congress, is challenging incumbent Susan Collins for her Senate seat.

“I am excited to tell you that our campaign has released the first video podcast of any '08 Senate campaign in the country. We will update it periodically with a variety of interesting stuff. Right now, you can find my positions on important issues and the voices of Mainers that we have run across on the campaign trail. Please encourage your friends and family to subscribe as well to help me spread the message,” stated a short message to supporters.

It was an inconvenience for the Cote campaign – but by no means “Cote-gate.”

Adam Cote’s Portland campaign office was broken into Saturday night. The thief made off with a couple of computers and a camcorder.

Cote is running for the Democratic nomination in the First Congressional District.