Return to presidential caucuses shows Maine's sensibility

[MaineDem]

This may go down in the political history books as the year Maine discovered it isn't New Hampshire.

We've always envied our only next-door state for all the national attention, money and influence over the presidential selection process that its quadrennial early-bird primary earns it.

We've tried all kinds of tricks and gimmicks to lure some of the largess over the border into Maine with little success. In 1996 we pretty much scrapped our traditional caucus system in favor of the more direct primary route for choosing the major parties' presidential nominees, emulating a ton of other states and getting lost in the process.
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So this year Maine is dumping its presidential primary in favor of the old-fashioned caucus system. Republicans are holding caucuses starting this month and continuing into March. Democrats hold their caucuses all on a single day: Sunday, Feb. 8.



http://www.pressherald.com/viewpoints/brunelle/040116caucuses.shtml