Dennis Kucinich

Poor Mark Lawrence. Maybe if he'd laid off the impeachment talk during his campaign, he would have finished higher than 5th place.

PolitickerME surveyed 88 random people about their political views and attitudes toward the media during last weekend’s rallies and caucuses.

Of them, 29 were Hillary Clinton supporters, 46 were Barack Obama supporters, and 13 did not specify a preferred candidate.

Caucus countdown

4 days for the Republicans (Feb. 1-3)

13 days for the Democrats (Feb. 10)

About this series:

PolitickerME is beginning our coverage of the February presidential caucuses. We will provide frequent updates as to what is planned.

Send tips to jessica.alaimo@politickerme.com

Although Dennis Kucinich has dropped out of the presidential race, supporters are still being encouraged to caucus for him...

Presidential candidate Ron Paul’s Bangor office will hold its grand opening ceremony tonight at 7 p.m.

So far, Paul is one of three candidates to place paid staff in Maine, along with Dennis Kucinich and Barack Obama.

“Get ready for a lightning campaign as we have just three short weeks to gear up for the Maine Caucuses,” Paul’s state coordinator Ken Lindell wrote in a release.

The campaign opened its Portland office last week.

Citing “serious and credible reports, allegations and rumors” about Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary results, Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich is asking for a recount, the Associated Press is reporting.

U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud has announced his support for the impeachment hearings of Vice President Dick Cheney.

Progressive Democratic sites are circulating a letter by him to the House Judiciary Committee supporting the resolution spearheaded by Rep. Dennis Kucinich. The letter is dated Dec. 21.

He wrote: “Dear Chairman Conyers,

I write today to request that you include vigorous hearings into the abuses of power by this Administration and include impeachment hearings of Vice President Richard Cheney in the Judiciary Committee schedule for the second session of the 110th Congress…”

View a PDF of the letter here.

Six people gathered in an empty classroom at the University of Southern Maine Thursday night over brownies and ginger ale.

After meeting briefly to talk about the script, they separated into corners of the room and started making phone calls. Today they were inviting people to a women’s summit for Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire, and were also compiling a list of women willing to go publically on the record as supporting Clinton.

This was the hub of Clinton’s supporters in Portland. Except none of the numbers they dialed started in 207. They were calling women in New Hampshire.

The group, which has about 25 people involved to some extent, has focused all of their efforts thus far on helping Clinton win next door. After the New Hampshire primary Jan. 8, they anticipate moving their efforts in state.

Sam Spencer, delegate to the Democratic National Convention, said it is hard to tell how much of an impact Maine will have on the presidential election. In February, Maine could see a mad rush of Democratic presidential candidates in five days, he said, or the state could be overlooked entirely.

UPDATED Nov. 26 at noon with comments from John Kaminski 

John Kaminski, chairman of the Maine Lawyers for Democracy, will join Ohio presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich and John Nichols, Washington correspondent for The Nation magazine, to teach the public about the process and history of presidential impeachment at Dartmouth College Monday.

Kucinich has continually called for impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney. The forum, held on the Hanover, N.H. campus at 6 p.m. Monday, will give a historical perspective of the process, clear up myths and discuss what impeachment involves, according to a press release from the group Democracy for New Hampshire.

Shalom Odokara, a prominent womens rights activist in Maine, represented the Obama campaignA couple of presidential hopefuls have stopped in Maine, but face it -- we’re not a priority state for the candidates.

We’re definitely not an ideal location for a debate anytime soon.

Thursday night, though, the Kennebec County Democrats hosted a surrogate debate at Augusta City Hall, gathering local campaign workers and volunteers to speak on their behalf, all who consider themselves “avid supporters”.

In the end, the county group asked for donations. The campaign collecting the most could keep the money. The rest would go to the Kennebec County Democrats. John Edwards’ campaign took home $147 ($135 from one person.) The Democrats got $75.

Four surrogates came, though representatives from all the Democratic campaigns were invited.