Prior to the 1936 Presidential election, Maine was considered a bellwether state by political analysts. The state held its general election early in the fall, rather than in November, and in Presidential years this included the presidential election. The results in Maine generally were a good predictor of the national results; candidates even worked hard to win Maine for this reason, despite its low population. From this came a well-regarded political maxim at the time: "As Maine goes, so goes the country."
In 1936, however, Maine and Vermont were the only two states won by Republican Presidential nominee Alf Landon; he even lost his home state of Kansas to FDR. After the landslide victory, Farley revised the "As Maine goes, so goes the country" saying to "As Maine goes, so goes Vermont," effectively ending that American political tradition.
The capital of Maine is Augusta and its governor is John Baldacci (Democrat).
Maine is both the largest and the northernmost state in the New England region, bordered on the west by New Hampshire.
Maine is the most sparsely populated state east of the Mississippi River, owing in part to its huge relative size—its land mass exceeds that of all other New England states combined.
The origin of this phrase lays in the political science theory that Maine was a bellweather state for presidential elections.
Maine held its presidential election in September, not November as did the other states, on the premise that inclement weather endemic in much of Maine by November made voting at that time of year impractical.
However, in November, only Vermont joined Maine, giving Landon only eight electoral votes (the three from Vermont and the five from Maine), equalling the smallest total ever (as of 2004) won by a major-party nominee since the beginning of the current U.S. two-party system in the 1850s, and destroying the credibility of the phrase permanently.
Feeds |
Contact