Democratic National Convention

Check back next week to view my Convention Sketchpads from the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis.

This year there were seven legislators in the Maine delegation to the Democratic National Convention, more than in recent history.

PolitickerME had the opportunity to talk with four state lawmakers at the delegation breakfast Thursday. State Rep. Elaine Makas (D-Lewiston) and Maine House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree (D-North Haven) are Obama delegates, and Rep. Cynthia Dill (D-Cape Elizabeth) and Sen. Phillip Bartlett (D-Gorham) are Clinton delegates.

In addition, Reps. Jon Hinck (D-Portland), Christopher Babbidge (D-Kennebunk) and Linda Valentino (D-Saco) spent the week in Denver.

The Maine Republican Party has released a statement in advance of Barack Obama’s big acceptance speech tonight.

Maine GOP Chairman Mark Ellis said:

DENVER -- There was one delegate who didn’t come to Denver.

David Bright, a delegate for Barack Obama from Dixmont, said that with all the rain Maine has been hit with, he had to stay home to take care of his farm.

He said he is working on a number of construction projects that need to get done, and they affect the long-term productivity of his business.

A vote for Hillary: After state Rep. Linda Valentino (D-Saco) made her vote for Hillary Clinton official Wednesday, she took a picture of the balloting sheet. Also on the sheet is U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud's vote for Barack Obama.

Wednesday, state Rep. Linda Valentino (D-Saco) cast a vote for Hillary Clinton, and took a picture of the ballot.

“I did not let down the hundreds of people who voted for me at the Maine State Convention. They elected me to come to Denver to vote for Hillary and I did!” she wrote in an e-mail.

DENVER -- Joe Baldacci, a delegate for Hillary Clinton from Bangor, is the brother of Gov. John Baldacci.

See below for video of PolitickerME’s interview with him, where he talks about the Baldacci family and his experience at the convention.

DENVER -- Karen Harris and Jill Duson, Maine delegates who are working on Barack Obama campaign, said the state can expect a high profile visit soon.

It is unlikely that Barack Obama will come back to Maine, Harris told the Maine delegates Thursday, but they have heard that either Michelle Obama or Joe Biden will visit the state in September.

The local party and campaign leaders need to make the arrangements and raise the money, Harris said, then they will be notified two weeks before the visit.

Maine House Speaker Glenn Cummings told PolitickerME last Saturday that Biden was planning a visit to the state.

DENVER -- Former Gov. Joe Brennan attended the Democratic National Convention as a guest of the Maine delegation this week.

On the breakfast of the final day of the convention, he spoke to Maine delegates about his experience there.

 “The statement of the nomination of Barack Obama is not just to this nation, but to the world. It’s how America has grown up. And Joe Biden is ready to do a hell of a job,” Brennan said.

Check out the video below.

Previous coverage: Brennan speaks with PolitickerME Monday

There is no shortage of second and third generations of American political families addressing delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Denver this week: Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, the daughter of President John F. Kennedy; James Roosevelt, Jr., the grandson of President Franklin D. Roosevelt; U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL), the son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988; U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), the daughter of former New Orleans Mayor/U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Moon Landrieu; U.S. Sen. Robert Casey (D-PA), the son of former Pennsylvania Gov. Bob Casey; Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, the daughter of former Ohio Gov. John Gilligan; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the daughter of former Baltimore Mayor/U.S. Rep. Thomas D’Alesandro; Iowa Gov. Chet Culver, the son of former U.S. Sen. John Culver (D-IA); New York Gov. David Paterson, the son of former New York Secretary of State Basil Paterson; and Cecile Richards, the daughter of former Texas Governor Anne Richards.