A dispatch from the Maine caucus from a Historiann family member in Saco:
“My dears, I have just come home from Fairfield School and the Dem. caucus. It was interesting but long. . . . If my vote was dependant upon the speakers Hillary would get my vote. A Saco State Rep. (female) gave an impassioned speech for her. The chap who spoke for Barak Obama was deadly dull–fortunately my mind was made up [for Obama]! Ward 6 (us) was evenly divided, 35 to 35, 4 delegates for each. Now it goes to the state convention at the end of May. At 6pm on the TV Obama is leading 52%-47%. Tomorrow’s local rag will hopefully have a ward breakdown. Ward 7 [also in Saco], Garside’s to the sea, had 5 Obama delegates to 3 Clinton. Some wards went to classrooms, but we were in the gym with several other wards. . . a total firedrill. It took nearly a half an hour to count the people in each ward and then match it up with the [votes]! We needed a kindergarten teacher [to conduct a proper count.]”
UPDATE, MONDAY FEB. 11, our Maine relative reports the following: “No ward breakdown in today’s local rag and the state Dem page is down. Interestingly HRC won in Biddeford, Sanford and Lewiston, not surprisingly all mill towns and you know Biddeford [a working-class town], not as wealthy a population as Saco. The most interesting fact is the number of voters who came out in bad weather: 42,000 plus 4000 absentee, breaking the record of 17,000 of 2004. Lines in Portland were, at times, 3 blocks long.”
Historiann 
Dear Historiann-Could you delete the previous comment? I was trying to comment on Obama’s feel-good message, which to me lacks a little substance. But it sounds kind of weird. Thanks.
LikeLike
Done! I didn’t think your comment sounded weird. The O-man does seem to have Senatorella on the ropes…let’s see what those crazy Buckeyes do next month. Any bets, Rad?
LikeLike
My biggest concern now is that Senatorella seems to be focusing on TX and Ohio rather than Wisconsin. It looks a little like Guliani’s strategy with Fla. If Obama wins Wisconsin he will pick up even more momentum. She needs to sack him in Wisconsin. The biggest problem is that he is the ultimate politician. He makes people feel good, in part by dealing in terms that are difficult to counter. I mean, who really wants to be against hope? Who doesn’t want a better future? But take something like Iraq, that is a very complicated situation, and I think she would handle it more effectively.
LikeLike
Yes–I agree. The one thing his campaign hasn’t managed to do is manage expectations, either for the campaign or for what an Obama presidency would mean, and I think HRC is probably smart in not over-promising what she can do in the first year of her presidency. I know people see her as hesitating on a commitment to get out of Iraq, and Obama supporters see that as further proof of her treachery with the 2002 vote to authorize force, but the reality is that because of George Bush’s war jones, there are real constraints about how speedily the next president can extract us from Iraq. Sadly, no one has a magic wand that will make it all just go away.
LikeLike