Baldacci won’t be among Maine delegates at Bush inauguration

AUGUSTA – Two of the three governors from northern New England plan to attend this week’s inauguration of President Bush, but all three states will be represented by delegations of elected leaders, political activists and a number of students.

Republican Gov. James Douglas of Vermont will lead his state’s delegation to the inaugural, and New Hampshire’s first-term Democratic Gov. John Lynch also plans to attend. But Democratic Gov. John Baldacci of Maine says he won’t be going.

“The invitation hasn’t come,” Maine’s chief executive said with a chuckle when asked last week if he was going. His plans had not changed as of Tuesday, spokesman Lee Umphrey said.

But Baldacci will be plenty busy in his state Capitol with a major property tax reform bill on Thursday while the Bush festivities go on in Washington, D.C. And Maine will be well-represented at the inauguration.

Both of Maine’s senators, Republicans Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, Democratic U.S. Reps. Tom Allen and Michael Michaud, the chairman and past chairwoman of the state GOP, and several members of the Maine College Republicans are among those planning to attend at least some of the day’s events.

Among those joining Vermont’s governor will be the state’s two Republican National Committee members, state GOP Chairman James Barnett, and R.L. “Skip” Vallee, a major fund-raiser for the Bush-Cheney ticket. Vallee said he and his wife Denise have been invited to several inaugural parties and receptions.

“For any president, Democrat or Republican, it’s an important moment,” said Vallee, who raised more than $200,000, qualifying him as a Bush Ranger during the campaign. “It’s a symbol of the continuity that our Constitution allows.”

Bipartisanship is also on the mind of New Hampshire’s Lynch.

“Gov. Lynch feels it’s important that we bring the same bipartisan spirit we’re bringing to New Hampshire to federal-state relations,” his spokeswoman, Pamela Walsh, said Tuesday.

Among the Granite State’s contingent will be some young but experienced inauguration-goers, the Spartans Drum and Bugle Corps of Nashua, who will make their fifth appearance in the parade and other inaugural festivities.

The Spartans, who include high school students from several communities, also played at Bush’s first inauguration and when presidents Carter, Reagan and George H.W. Bush moved into the White House.

Another inauguration veteran, New Hampshire Republican Chairwoman Jayne Millerick, said the group from her state also ranges from elected officials to volunteers who worked for the campaign.

Millerick, who also attended Bush’s first inauguration, arrived in Washington on Tuesday in time for the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting.

“I think the level of support hasn’t changed, but I think we’ve learned an awful lot from this president since the first inauguration,” she said. “We all had confidence in his leadership at the last inauguration, but we all have even more confidence in him now.”

New Hampshire and Vermont residents will attend the Independence Ball, along with the president’s supporters from the District of Columbia and 14 other states.