Susan Collins

Today's press release conveys Dr. Hoffman's disappointment that the four town meetings in August were cancelled. 

Ah, Herb, you were never invited.

Sen. Susan Collins declined the opportunity to attend four town hall meetings with opponent Tom Allen this August, citing the lateness of his invitation.

In a letter to Allen she said her schedule is already full.

“I agree with your point about the importance of campaigning in Maine's smaller communities. I was reminded of how important that is when I joined Olympia Snowe and Mike Michaud at the Potato Blossom Festival in Fort Fairfield over the weekend,” Collins wrote in her response, listing all the towns and cities she has attended events in this year.

U.S. Senate candidate and current Rep. Tom Allen, D-Portland, will call for a series of town hall meetings in August with opponent Sen. Susan Collins, R-Bangor.

Allen will make the request publically at a press conference Tuesday.

"As I continue to travel to towns all across Maine, people ask how we can solve the big problems challenging them each day - the high costs of food and fuel, our health care crisis, Maine's economic struggles and how we bring our troops home safely from Iraq," Allen said in a prepared statement. "There is no better way for voters to have a candid discussion of the issues than in traditional town hall settings."

U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe introduced John McCain to a crowd of about 400 Friday afternoon, both speaking about their experiences with the presumptive Republican Presidential candidate.

Maine House Republican Leader Josh Tardy and Congressional Candidate Charlie Summers had been scheduled to speak, however McCain arrived early so they did not have the opportunity.

See below for video of Collins’ introduction.

The gates have just opened at the Maine Military Museum in South Portland and people are starting to file in.

At 2 p.m. the pre-program will start, with Maine House Majority Leader Josh Tardy and Charlie Summers, Republican candidate for the First Congressional District.

John McCain is expected to arrive at 2:30, and U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins will introduce him.

There are 14 picnic tables set up inside a fenced in area, and standing room along the outside.

Watch PolitickerME.com throughout the day for updates on the visit.

Is there any politician in Maine that doesn't have an energy plan?

As far as I can tell we are being told we need more wind mills, more hydroelectric, more oil, less oil, more drilling, less drilling, more nuke plants, no nukes, more conservation, less consumption, more hybrids, less driving, more car pooling, different light bulbs, less speculation, tax credits, more transmission lines, more wood pellet stoves, more weatherization, a tuned up boiler, more solar panels and on and on.......

As PolitickerME and half of Maine’s political community ventured around Aroostook County today, the news kept going. Here are a few things we missed today:

Allen denounces card-check ad… Baldacci makes appointments… Real ID opponents fail to meet signature quota… Presidential campaigns come to life…

The name “Collins” is all over downtown Caribou. There is a Collins Street, a Collins pond, and most significantly the S.W. Collins Company.

The family has been in Caribou for five generations. So has the family business, a lumber, building material and hardware supplier. Established in 1844, it supplies both the area carpenters and the do-it-yourselfers.

Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins grew up in this Northern Maine town. Now she lives in Bangor. She is running for a third term in the U.S. Senate against U.S. Rep. Tom Allen.

The Collins’ are a family of lumber, potatoes and public service. Both of Collins’ parents served as mayor of Caribou, and Susan’s dad, Donald Collins, spent nine years in the Legislature. He was part of the “Gang of 13” who, in 1991, shut the state down over the Worker’s Compensation issue.

The family business is in the hands of Sam Collins, Susan’s younger brother. Gregg Collins, another brother, is vice-president and in charge of their Presque Isle store. They also have a store in Houlton.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins: Getty Images Photo A Rasmussen poll released Friday shows U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Bangor) maintaining her lead over U.S. Rep. Tom Allen (D-Portland) with little change over the last month in voter sentiment about the U.S. Senate race.

Rasmussen's poll showed Collins holding a steady advantage — 49 percent to 42 percent — over her Democratic challenger.

With so-called "leaners" — undecided voters with an inclination toward one candidate or the other — taken into consideration, Collin's lead expands to 53 percent to 43 percent, Rasmussen reports.

The campaign of Independent U.S. senatorial candidate Herb Hoffman (I-Ogunquit) announced Thursday that Lynn Ellis of Brunswick had been hired as campaign manager. The hospice social worker had previously volunteered for the campaigns of Dennis Kucinich, Tom LeDue and Jean Hay Bright and currently serves as the State Coordinator of the campaign to establish a U.S. Department of Peace and Nonviolence.

Hoffman said in a statement that Ellis was his first choice for the position.

“She has good organizational skills, good people skills, and experience in working on the local level in support of national goals and programs,” Hoffman said. “ I'm confident she is the type of leader we need to keep my campaign moving forward."