Life here in Maine has been a whirlwind, and Wampum, sadly, was one of the casualties. My primary race for the Maine House has heated up (understatement), and with less than three weeks to go, I truly don't know how much time I can commit. But Wampum has been a labor of love for me for over 18 months now, and with Dwight's impending move from Georgia back to NC, I don't want it to completely languish, despite my recent neglect.
As for a brief update, this weekend was the Democratic Convention here in Maine, where the Progressives rattled their swords and reminded the national party not to forget us. Kucinich not only made the 15% threshold, he pulled nearly 30%, costing Senator Kerry four of his previously caucus-earned delegates.
I've been myopic in my focus on knocking on my district's Democratic doors over the past few months, and almost passed up the convention. (I hit my 1000th door on Thursday, in fact.) The schmoozing piece is not really my cup of tea, but it was actually rather fun as I took my staff along: Access in Maine is truly remarkable - I had a 20 minute conversation with the Governor, his sister and a GLBT activist in the governor's hospitality suite (aka, hotel room), something my Minnesotan field director had never previously witnessed first-hand. In fact, as the Governor left the room, he (once again) informally endorsed me over my opponent ("Who? No, we need YOU in the Legislature.")
But what truly made my evening was the constant accolades thrown at my staff, well-deserved accolades I might add.
I have much to catch up on, from unemployment to gas prices to the CDC's latest thimerosal hijinx. I have no clue as to whether I'll be able to manage it over the next 16 days. But it might be interesting to try.
Posted by MB Williams at May 23, 2004 10:37 PM | TrackBackI hope you keep up this blog, even if the posts are infrequent. I've quoted some of your writing and referred a few people here. I hate politics and consider myself an issues person. You address bread and butter issues as well if not better then any blogger on the net. You make the complex accessable, a rare talent.
Posted by: inkdog at May 24, 2004 02:05 AMMB,
As much as I love your blog, you have a race to run! Get in there and win it!
Miss you though!
Phyllis
Oh, THERE you are! I was getting worried about you--just randomly clicked hoping there'd be something new here.
All the best with the campaign, kiddo! You're an amazing woman!
Posted by: emily at May 24, 2004 12:32 PMi'm glad to see you surfacing, however briefly. but maine needs you in the legislature way more than we need to be reading new posts.
don't feel guilty. just win that race.
Does this mean that Dwight will be on hiatus, too? I hope not.
Posted by: plunkitt at May 24, 2004 08:03 PMWhat amazes me about the SEIU endorsement is that the endorsee favors "flat relief" (a term coined here) rather than "progressive relief".
Posted by: jim at May 31, 2004 08:17 AM