Sam Spencer

Maine Democratic National Committeeman Sam Spencer endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for President this evening, and said he will strongly urge a shared ticket with Hillary Clinton as his Vice President.

“While it is clear that Senator Obama has won the nomination, it is also clear that the election is close to being a virtual tie. I call on other delegates to the national convention who agree with me that an Obama/Clinton ticket is our best path forward, including pledged delegates to both candidates, committed superdelegates, and superdelegates who are still uncommitted, to make similar statements,” Spencer said in a statement.

Two candidates are vying for the state’s Democratic National Committeewoman post, who will be selected by state delegates at the Democratic State Convention this weekend.

Rita Moran chairs the Kennebec County Democrats and is a member of the state committee. She was originally elected committeewoman for the current term, but ousted after the state committee determined the vote to elect her was unfair. Jennifer DeChant of Bath had held the position before, and won her seat back. Moran is a second generation party organizer.

Maggie Allen of Madison is also seeking the seat. She is a former executive director of the Maine Democratic Party, and was a Regional Field Director for the Kerry/Edwards coordinated campaign in 2004. She is working on a doctorate degree in public policy from the University of Maine at Orono.

Maine’s Democratic National Committeeman Sam Spencer is still on the fence regarding his superdelegate status, and he wants to hear from Maine on the issue.

“As an uncommitted 'superdelegate,' my life has been turned upside down with calls from the candidates, their surrogates, and Maine Democrats urging me in every possible direction. For a number of reasons, I have decided to stay uncommitted thus far,” Spencer writes on his Web site.

He has started an open discussion on SamSpencer.org for Democrats. He wants input on the following topics:

U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud endorsed John Edwards early in the presidential campaign.

When Edwards dropped out, Michaud entered vast realm of “uncommitted superdelegates”, the subject of virtually every pundit debate and a buzz word in political circles.

Following Edwards’ endorsement of Barack Obama, Michaud has decided to remain uncommitted.

U.S. Rep. Tom Allen endorsed Obama on Monday, helping to put him in the lead with superdelegates.

Some speculate the superdelegates could decide the Democratic contest.

National committeeman Sam Spencer doesn’t want to be the deciding factor.

Six people gathered in an empty classroom at the University of Southern Maine Thursday night over brownies and ginger ale.

After meeting briefly to talk about the script, they separated into corners of the room and started making phone calls. Today they were inviting people to a women’s summit for Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire, and were also compiling a list of women willing to go publically on the record as supporting Clinton.

This was the hub of Clinton’s supporters in Portland. Except none of the numbers they dialed started in 207. They were calling women in New Hampshire.

The group, which has about 25 people involved to some extent, has focused all of their efforts thus far on helping Clinton win next door. After the New Hampshire primary Jan. 8, they anticipate moving their efforts in state.

Sam Spencer, delegate to the Democratic National Convention, said it is hard to tell how much of an impact Maine will have on the presidential election. In February, Maine could see a mad rush of Democratic presidential candidates in five days, he said, or the state could be overlooked entirely.