The plight of the Maine progressive?

The conservative movement in Maine fizzled out long ago.  Since then, the progressive movement has tried to fill the void, and has seen successes at the State level.  Leaders in both chambers like Reps. Cummings, Pingree and Faircloth, and Sens. Edmonds and Mitchell have proudly carried the progressive banner.  But in terms of our national delegation to Congress, one has to wonder: is the progressive movement coming to an end?

Representative Michaud is by no means a winger in the Democratic party--he's even pro-life!  Try as Republican challenger John Frary might, Michaud isn't going anywhere in November.  And Tom Allen, who wears a darker shade of blue than his colleague in the second congressional district, is mounting a strong campaign against Senator Susan Collins, yet the chances of an Allen victory in November become less likely with each passing day.

And then there's Adam Cote.  The former Republican is running a surprisingly effective race in the first district democratic congressional primary against Chelli Pingree, Ethan Strimling, Mark Lawrence and Michael Brennan--popular personalities in the progressive hall of fame.  All this seems to point to a chink in the progressive movement's armor.  In fact, a Cote victory and wins for Collins and Michaud in November would put the entire Maine delegation in the political middle.

There's no question that most of the other Democratic candidates in this race view Cote with contempt, and the left wing of the Democratic Party will move in to hyper overdrive in the blogosphere to halt his progress.  I wonder though, if there are significant numbers in the Democratic Party – the same folks that help elect Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins by wide margins—who will migrate to the Cote campaign.

The primary election is Tuesday, June 10th.  Will it result in a progressive renaissance, or the final straw to break the hard-left donkey's back?