Fla. vote could boost McCain in Maine

AUGUSTA – Sen. John McCain will enjoy a bump in Maine’s Republican caucuses this weekend thanks to his win in Florida, political observers said Wednesday as an Associated Press tally gave the Arizona senator the largest share of the delegates won so far.

Maine’s GOP caucuses are sandwiched between Tuesday’s Florida primaries and next week’s Super Tuesday, in which more than 20 states hold primaries or caucuses.

While Maine’s own delegate count is relatively small, the state’s role could be magnified by the fact that it gets the nation’s center stage for the few days bridging Florida’s and the larger multistate presidential preference contests, University of Maine political scientist professor Mark Brewer said.

McCain’s win gives him an added edge going into Maine’s Friday, Saturday and Sunday GOP caucuses, Brewer said.

“I think John McCain gets a big bump in Maine, and everywhere,” said Brewer, adding that McCain’s “maverick” style helps to make him the kind of candidate who could do well in Maine.

With his win in Florida, McCain comes into Maine with 93 delegates, followed by Mitt Romney with 59, the AP survey said. The same count gives 40 delegates to Mike Huckabee and four to Ron Paul, who is well-organized in Maine and visited the state on Monday.

The Maine Republican Party’s executive director, Julie O’Brien, agreed that McCain gets a boost from his showing this week, but doesn’t write off Texas congressman Paul or Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor who won Iowa.

“Paul is extremely well-organized” in Maine, said O’Brien. While she has said in the past that Paul could win in Maine, she wasn’t quite as sure Wednesday. McCain and Romney are strong, O’Brien said, and “Huckabee has his following. His following is strong and can’t be dismissed.”

Conservative activists who would be drawn to Huckabee’s campaign are the same ones who helped win the GOP gubernatorial nomination in 2006 for Chandler Woodcock, a former state senator who won a three-way primary in which David Emery was also a contestant. Democratic Gov. John Baldacci won a second term in the general election.

During that primary campaign, McCain shored up his political ties in Maine as he visited the state to attend a fundraiser for Emery. As of Wednesday, there was no formal word that any of the other GOP candidates or their surrogates would visit Maine, but observers said they wouldn’t be surprised to see that change before the weekend.

The Maine Democrats, meanwhile, are awaiting the impact of Super Tuesday’s contests on their caucuses, which will be held on Feb. 10. The race essentially became a two-person contest between Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton after John Edwards dropped out of the running Wednesday.