AUGUSTA – Brushing aside criticisms Wednesday from Republican leaders, the Democratic president of the Maine Senate defended her refusal to excuse the absence of a Brewer GOP lawmaker who has chosen to be at his wife’s side while she undergoes treatments for cancer in Boston.

Sen. Edward M. Youngblood, R-Brewer, has missed 43 of 154 roll-call votes since the Senate first convened last December. The majority of those unexcused absences were recorded during the past two months while his wife, Peggy, prepared for a stem cell transplant as part of her cancer treatment.

Senate Republican Leader Paul T. Davis of Sangerville said he asked Senate President Beverly Daggett, D-Augusta, to have Youngblood’s absences excused to pre-empt the misperception that the senator’s missed votes amounted to a frivolous disregard of his responsibilities to the voters of District 6.

“She told me, ‘If he really wanted to be here, he could,'” Davis said.

If Senate Republicans were not already frustrated by Daggett’s refusal to excuse Youngblood’s absences, they were even more perplexed to learn she had excused Sen. Dennis Damon, D-Trenton, during the final – and busiest – week of the session to attend a forum on national fisheries policies in Washington, D.C.

Daggett also defended that decision, describing Damon’s attendance as an important voice for Maine at a meeting of national significance. Republicans called it “a junket.”

“I think that as far as absences are concerned, one could argue that Senator Youngblood had less choice in this matter than Senator Damon,” said Sen. Tom Sawyer, R-Bangor. “I find it all rather sad.”

For her part, Daggett didn’t deny stating that Youngblood could have cast his roll-call votes “if he really wanted to be here.” But the Senate president insisted her remarks were made in the context of the joint rules that Senate Republicans and Democrats both approved at the beginning of the session. According to the rules, “The President may excuse from voting members who are absent from the chamber to conduct legislative business or for other extraordinary occasions.”

Daggett did not explain why she felt the basis for Youngblood’s absence did not rise to an extraordinary occasion, but acknowledged she certainly could have reached a different conclusion had Republicans made their displeasure with her decision known to her. Daggett said Youngblood had not personally asked her to have his absences excused and that she had perceived the tone of Davis’ request on Youngblood’s behalf as “casual” and not rising to the level of insistence.

“I asked twice and once in the form of a written note – I thought that was sufficient,” Davis said.

Still, Davis acknowledged Daggett was correct when she explained other options were available to Youngblood if he were really concerned about his record. For instance, Youngblood could have paired his vote with another senator who was present and voting.

“Yes he could have, but I suspect he had other things on his mind,” Davis countered.

Under the Senate rules, there are no disciplinary penalties for a senator who misses roll-call votes.

But, at the core of Republican fears is that the missed roll-call votes will somehow be used against the two-term Brewer senator in a future re-election bid. Daggett dismissed those concerns as unrealistic given that any candidate who attempted to besmirch his opponent for tending to an ailing spouse would reap nothing but alienation from the voters.

Davis agreed with Daggett’s assessment, but also emphasized that “a lot of funny things can happen” during the last 48 hours of a campaign when a candidate simply runs out of time to issue a credible response.

Finally, Daggett said she would have been more than willing to reconsider her position on Youngblood’s unexcused absences had those concerns been presented to her in a manner consistent with the normal tenor of discussions between the president’s office and GOP leadership.

“I must say, I find it curious that people have chosen to raise this issue in the press rather than see me about it personally,” she said.