Maine Gov. Janet Mills joined other Democratic governors in a conversation with President Joe Biden on Wednesday night as part of a White House effort to shore up support for Biden after his widely critiqued performance in the first presidential debate.
Mills wrote in a statement to Maine Morning Star that the debate was difficult to watch, but affirmed that she will continue to back Biden after the conversation, which she participated in remotely from Maine.
“The president made clear to me and the rest of the governors that he was in it to win it and that he would be making his case to the American people – and I believe him,” Mills wrote. “Over the next several months, and especially in the coming days, I look forward to the president demonstrating to the American people the same heart, determination, and vigor that he brought to our conversation this evening – qualities that I have come to know well in my time with him over the years.”
During the debate on June 27, Mills told Maine Morning Star that democracy is at stake in the November presidential election, as well as common sense and civility in the White House, which she said she had not seen from former President Donald Trump during the debate. Rather, the governor criticized Trump for deploying what she called mudslinging, name calling and “just so many fibs.”
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Reiterating this contrast in the statement Wednesday, Mills added that Biden had a record of accomplishment for Maine people, as opposed to “the chaos and ineptitude that Donald Trump would rain down on the American people.”
Reacting to debate, Gov. Mills outlines what’s at stake for Maine in presidential election
However, Mills wrote that she told Biden the debate was difficult to watch and that some Mainers shared concerns with her about his campaign, specifically anxiety over whether he could win. Mills also conveyed to Biden “that it would be good for him to reassure the voters of Maine, just as he was reassuring us,” she wrote.
Writing that the conversation was candid and constructive, Mills added, “I told him that I cared deeply about him, that I believe he has been an excellent leader for our country, and that I support him.”
In the week since the debate, Democrats have raised concerns about Biden’s performance. On Tuesday, Texas U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett called for Biden to withdraw as the Democratic nominee, becoming the first congressional Democrat to do so.
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Amid speculation about Biden’s future as the Democratic nominee, the White House has said Biden is “absolutely not” stepping down.
The Maine Democratic Party has also continued to show its support for the president. In a statement on Tuesday, the state party contrasted the candidates’ records on a range of issues.
“Unlike Donald Trump, President Joe Biden has delivered for Mainers by lowering costs for Maine families, creating more than 44,000 good paying jobs, investing $2.5 billion to strengthen our infrastructure, and expanding Mainers’ access to affordable health care,” the statement read.
The Maine Democratic Party is also of the belief that “the only way to defeat Donald Trump and his plans to ban abortion nationwide including here in Maine, gut access to affordable health care, and destroy our democracy is to reelect Joe Biden this November.”
An ICE agent in Maine fatally shot into the car of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 25-year-old Colombian national. CBS News reports that Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine said that “the person that was killed was not the person that they were seeking,”
Maine Senate hopeful, Democrat David Costello, speaks with a potential voter as he gathers signatures, required to be considered at the party’s convention, in downtown Brunswick, Maine on July 12.
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BRUNSWICK, Maine – On a sunny Sunday, Senate hopeful David Costello worked the sidewalk in downtown Brunswick asking for signatures.
“Woud you happen to be a registered Democrat?” he asked one woman before engaging in a back and forth conversation. She asks if he’s progressive.
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“Very progressive,” Costello said.
Costello is one of several Maine Democrats who see the fall of Graham Platner’s senate campaign as an opportunity to represent Maine in Washington.
Platner won June’s Democratic primary election handily. But allegations of rape by a former romantic partner last week forced him to drop out of the race. It leaves Maine Democrats scrambling to find a new nominee before the July 27 deadline to put a name on the ballot. Platner denies the allegations.
The Maine Democratic Party will hold a convention on July 25 where 601 delegates will choose that nominee. That candidate will need to capitalize on the enthusiasm Platner generated to defeat Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
An unstoppable incumbent or a top pick-up opportunity?
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, leans down to listen to a young paradegoer at the annual Moxie Day Parade is Lisbon, Maine on July 11.
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Collins remained quiet at the end of Platner’s campaign but at the annual Moxie Day parade Saturday in Lisbon, Maine, she walked with volunteers in red shirts.
“People appreciate the fact that I provide steady leadership — and the word steady does come up a lot,” Collins said at the parade, “and that I continue to work really hard for Maine.”
Collins has represented Maine in the Senate since 1997. She has managed to stay in her seat even as Maine has voted for Democrats for president statewide, including in 2020 when the state voted for Joe Biden. Collins last won reelection that year with a comfortable margin — more than 8.5%.
At the annual Moxie Day Parade in Lisbon, Maine, supporters of Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, march with signs and giant letters spelling S-U-S-A-N, on July 11.
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Democrats see Maine as pivotal to their chances to retake the Senate. Platner’s departure from the race puts pressure on the party to choose a replacement candidate who can win over Platner’s loyal voters and appeal to independents who are key to Collins’ electoral success. Maine state Senate President Mattie Daughtry, a Democrat, is encouraged to see many of the candidates running on Platner’s progressive platform of transformational change. But she’s worried about voters being turned off by the process.
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“I do have that deep seated concern of how many folks are going to say ‘oh well, this man failed me. Why trust someone ever again?’” Daughtry said.
Daughtry did not endorse Platner and she quickly called on him to drop out of the race after the rape allegations surfaced. Still, she thinks his message resonated.
“I ran for office when I was 25 because I was really really angry. I was working 4 jobs. I couldn’t afford an apartment and I had no healthcare. And unfortunately that story has not changed and it is a lived reality for millions of us across this country,” Daughtry said.
“And we need to find who can pick up that mantle. Who understands what that life is like and really tap into that raw energy,” she added.
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Supporters weigh what’s next
Just one month ago, Alan Crichton was playing saxophone at Graham Platner’s primary night victory party. At a brewery in Belfast, Maine this weekend, he noted his ambivalence.
“I have so many mixed feelings. I like the guy. I like his message a great deal and I think he galvanized people who are just kind of sick of what’s happening,” Crichton said.
Now, though, Crichton calls the situation “a big old mess.” As a Democrat, he hoped the charismatic populist Platner would be the one to finally knock out Collins. Though, at this point, he’ll vote for whoever the Maine Democratic party selects.
“I hope it’s somebody who can kind of carry the torch that Graham kind of lit and held out there very strongly. He was a very inspiring guy,” he said.
Joseph Berube of Northport, Maine, gave up on politics in 1972 after Democrat George McGovern lost the race for president in a landslide. This year, though, he got excited about Graham Platner’s candidacy for U.S. Senate.
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Joseph Berube is an independent voter who lives in Northport, Maine. After decades disengaged from politics, Graham Platner sparked something in him he could hardly believe.
“Because I am so apolitical,” Berube said, “I want nothing to do with it. [But] I was actually considering giving money to his campaign.”
Charlotte Agell is on the opposite end of the engagement spectrum. A registered Democrat, she is very politically involved and has been for decades. She met Platner early on in his campaign.
“One of our neighbors said, ‘hey would you like to come to my backyard and meet Graham Platner?’ I had sort of heard of him,” she remembered. “When I went to that back yard event, I just by happenstance walked in with him. It was me and Graham Platner walking in.”
By the time that event ended, she had signed up to volunteer for his campaign.
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“I felt a kinship with everything that was coming out of his mouth basically. Very smart. Good at identifying the problem,” Agell said.
Core to Platner’s economic populist message was that the system has been failing regular people while the rich and powerful get more rich and more powerful. He had faced controversies throughout his campaign. He easily won the nomination anyway. But then came the rape allegation. Berube believes the rush to judgment was too swift.
“I agree with women’s rights and women shouldn’t be abused,” he said. “But to have one person come up and stand up and say, ‘he abused me,’ and then that’s it? It’s just not really fair to him.””I just think they didn’t want him,” Berube added.
Berube says Democrats chopped the legs out from under someone who had brought people back into politics.
“He was bringing in people like me and that’s what’s going to do this. And you know what, we’re in the middle of a war to save this country,” Berube said. “And we have the other side that’s fighting with the gloves off and we’re putting the gloves on. We’re in trouble.”
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Charlotte Agell has been processing it all a little differently. Agell admits to being a chronic optimist but says this was never about one man.
“You know, we’re not a cult. We’re just a movement that wants to take back this country for the middle and the working class,” she said.
Agell wants to believe this massive disruption won’t sap the momentum for change she felt.
“It’s really been like a rocket ship. We’ve all been on it. And that’s why, when these very serious things have been alleged and rightly he has dropped out of the race, we’re kinda still flying at 90 million miles an hour and saying ‘who can take the controls’ and we’re going to figure that out,” Agell said.
State Senator Chip Curry says the state party is doing the best it can with a tight timeline.
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“It’s a winnable race and we’ve got some great people. We’ve got to get there,” Curry said.
There are more than half a dozen announced candidates. And for Democrats the stakes couldn’t be higher. No clear frontrunner has emerged from the candidates who have put themselves forward to be considered. It’s also not clear if one candidate can capitalize on the momentum that Platner was building in Maine. Still, some are remaining optimistic.
“People are going to grumble. I’ve grumbled a little bit. But I think we’ll get through this,” Senate hopeful David Costello predicted. “I think whoever the nominee is will have tremendous support.”
The National Weather Service is predicting a scorcher for parts of western and northern Maine on Tuesday, with the possibility of thunderstorms, high winds and hail.
“The heat and humidity is going to supply energy to the atmosphere,” said meteorologist Hunter Tubbs on Monday. “That energy is going to clash with a cold front expected to come down from Canada tomorrow night. That clash has the potential to produce severe storms.”
The evening storms could bring large hail up to 2 inches in diameter and heavy thunderstorms, but severe winds are likely to cause the most damage, forecasters say. There is a low possibility oftornadoes, according to the severe weather bulletin.
The areas at most risk include Maine’s western mountains and the northern part of Maine, from its northern foothills up to the Canadian border, Tubbs said. There is some risk of severe storms in the south, but not as much, he said.
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Heat and humidity are expected to peak Tuesday, Tubbs said, with heat indices climbing into the upper 90s in cities like Augusta, Lewiston and Waterville. The heat index temperature — or how hot it feels when combining heat and humidity — is predicted to hit 104 in Fryeburg.
The humidity will ease Wednesday, Tubbs said, but the heat will linger into Thursday with highs in the low 90s. By Thursday evening, a gradual cooling trend will emerge that is likely to last into the weekend.
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Penny Overton is excited to be the Portland Press Herald’s first climate reporter. Since joining the paper in 2016, she has written about Maine’s lobster and cannabis industries, covered state politics…
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