Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Early Maine Primary Results 2006

There are a few things that are settled in the 2006 Maine primary as I write this. Actually, a few of the things were settled before the first vote was cast. Baldacci was a shoo-in for the Democratic gubernatorial vote. I'm actually surprized that Miller has a whole quarter of the vote, with about half of the precincts reporting.

I'm really surprized that Woodcock seems to be taking the lead in the Republican gubernatorial race. I'm even more surprized that Emery is last. I'd been assuming that Emery would win it by a nose over Mills, even tho I didn't intend on voting for him. I must have been influenced by my midcoast upbringing, where Emery is still revered.

I did end up voting for Mills, and the choice for me was always between him and Woodcock. Woodcock's going to have to impress a lot of people to unseat Baldacci. I think there are quite a few folks, like me, who will be looking to some of the independent candidates.

The second worst travesty of the night is Rockland's repeal of the pay per bag transfer station policy. This tiny intrusion of market forces into the waste disposal habits of the citizenry and businesses of Rockland would have been good.

The worst travesty of the night is Courier-Gazette reporter (and editor!) Stephen Betts' ignorance of the definition of the word margin the first time he uses it in the article:

By a two-to-one margin, city voters repealed the pay per bag law approved earlier this year by the city council.


By its second use in the article, the word seems to be used correctly:

And in the race for the Republican nomination for Knox County Sheriff, Ockenfels of Rockport is leading incumbent Davey of Warren by a wide margin...


The one bit of Schadenfreude that I'll engage in tonight is the clobbering that new Maine Christian Civic League operative Mike Hein took at the polls in his quest for the Republican nomination in the House district 57 race. The guy's just sick in the head. He sent me an email characterizing a woman as "no stranger to leaving broken families in her wake" because she had once left a husband who had abused her physically and to a severe degree. Lay off the Jack Chick comics for a while, Mike. You'll start to see that people aren't all Satanists just because they've made some bad choices in life.

Peace,

Tor

Tagged as:
Filed Under: