Expectations and the 1994 Maine Elections

The 1994 elections at the national and state level resulted in significant changes all across the political landscape. Bowdoin professor of government Christian Potholm analyzes the nature of that change and its implications forMaine

Interview with Chris Potholm by Andrea L’Hommedieu

Biographical NoteChristian P. Potholm holds a chair in government and legal studies at Bowdoin College. He took his graduate work at Tufts University and specializes in Maine politics, warfare, African politics, and international conflict. He previously taught at Vassar, Dartmouth, and the College of the Virgin Islands. He worked on Harry Richardson’s staff and was Bill Cohen’s campaign manager in 1972; he continued to work for Cohen while also teaching at Bowdoin. He is the author of fourteen books on politics and founded Command Research, a national polling firm, and the Potholm Group, a consulting group that specializes in ballot measure initiatives. SummaryInterview includes discussion of: George Mitchell’s 1974 run for governor of Maine; Potholm’s role working for Harry Richardson in the 1974 campaign; Mitchell’s being appointed to Ed Muskie’s Senate seat in 1980; Mitchell’s reelection campaign against Dave Emery in 1982; the changes Mitchell made in his 1982 campaign from his 1974 campaign; Mitchell’s partisanship compared to Margaret Chase Smith, Ed Muskie, and Bill Cohen; Ed Muskie’s partisanship; Potholm’s position on Bill Cohen’s staff; Mitchell’s and Cohen’s relationship; Mitchell’s 1988 campaign against Jasper Wyman; Mitchell and PAC money; Mitchell’s TV interviewing style; Public Utilities Commission investigation; Potholm’s continuing relationship with Bill Cohen; Bill Cohen’s current projects; and the placement of Cohen’s papers at the University of Maine, Orono

Contemporary Attitudes of Franco Americans

In 2012, the 125th Maine Legislature established the Maine Task Force on Franco-Americans. As articulated in LD 1601,1 the purpose of the Task Force was to gather basic Franco American demographic data, investigate various dimensions of the Franco American heritage in Maine, evaluate the current economic and educational cir­cumstances of this population group, and report to the Legislature its findings by the end of the year. The Task Force was to meet four times. LD 1601 called upon the University of Maine’s Franco American Centre to support the Task Force’s work. The Task Force on Franco-Americans was chaired by Representative Ken Fredette of Newport and Senator Thomas Martin of Benton. Other members included Representative Brian Bolduc of Auburn, Juliana L’Heureux of Topsham, Yvon Labbé of Greenville, Severin Beliveau of Hallowell, David Madore of Augusta, Daniel Deveau of Van Buren, Susan Pinette of Orono, Gilman Pelletier of Waterville, Raymond Lagueux of Lewiston, and James Lemieux of Pittsfield. The committee staff consisted of two members: Karen Nadeau-Drillen, legislative analyst, and Natalie Haynes, legislative analyst, both at the Office of Policy and Legal Analysis, Maine Legislature. Given the limits of scientific data specific to Franco Americans in Maine, the Task Force determined that it needed not only to examine existing statistics and research material, but also to inquire into current attitudes among Maine’s Franco American population, to ascertain first- person views on a number of subjects not covered by other data collection methods, including the most recent U.S. Census. Toward that end, in keeping with the long-term vision Representative Ken Fredette proposed for the Task Force, the Franco American Centre at the University of Maine commissioned a 600-person attitudinal survey carried out by Command Research, a Maine-based, national public opinion survey company, located in Harpswell. Funding for this survey was made possible by the generosity of a number of people and organizations, especially the University of Maine, the University of Southern Maine, the University of Maine at Fort Kent, the University of Maine System, the Forum Francophone des Affaires (FFA-USA), Representative Ken Fredette, and Juliana L’Heureux. Command Research conducted field work during late July and early August of 2012. The study consisted of a 55-question survey administered to 600 self-described Franco American adults in Maine who were chosen at ran­dom based on the statewide geographical distribution of this population group. The normal statistical margin of error for a study of this type is plus or minus .04 at the 95th level of confidence. An initial exploration of the findings of this survey, together with important census data and secondary research, provide the basis for this Occasional Paper #1. It is our hope that this paper will stimulate further research into the thousands of pages of findings already generated, and that it will engender further explorations of the attitudes of Franco American communities in Maine—indeed of all communities in Maine—on an ongoing basis

Book Reviews

Reviews of the following books: An Upriver Passamaquoddy by Allen J. Sockabasin; The Murder of Mary Bean and Other Stories by Elizabeth A. DeWolfe; American Silk, 1830-1930: Entrepremeurs and Artifacts by Jackqueline Field, Marjorie Senechal and Madelyn Shaw

Book Reviews

Reviews of the following books: The Penobscot Dance of Resistence: Tradition in the History of a People by Pauleena MacDougall; Maine’s Visible Black History: The First Chronicle of its People by H. H. Price and Gerald E.Talbot; Borderland Smuggling: Patriots, Loyalists, and Illicit Trade in the Northeast, 1783-1820 by Joshua M. Smith

Book Reviews

Reviews of the following books: At the Place of the Lobsters and Crabs: Indian People and Deer Isle, Maine, 1605-2005 by William A. Haviland; A History of the Italians in the State of Maine by Vincent A. Lapomarda; Beckets & Hinges: Sea Tales of Old North Yarmouth, Maine by Captain Charles C. and Abbie B. Oakes. Edited and illustrated by Arnold H. Sturtevant; Joshua Bross Rich (1820-1897): The Life and Works of a Western Maine Pioneer and Wildlife Writer by William B. Kroh

Book Reviews

Reviews of the following books: Landscape with Figures: Nature & Culture in New England by Kent C. Ryden; Imagining New England: Explorations of Regional Identity from the Pilgrims to the Mid-Twentieth Century by Joseph A. Conforti. A Good and Wise Measure: the Search for the American-Canadian Boundary, 1783-1842 by Francis M. Carroll. John Ford in Focus: Essays on the Filmmaker’s Life and Work, edited by Kevin L. Stoehr and Michael C. Connolly. Styles Bridges: Yankee Senator by James J. Kiepper. Giving Voters a Voice: The Origins of the Initiative and Referendum in America by Steven L. Piott. Androscoggin County, Maine – 150th: A Pictorial Sesquicentennial History, 1854 – 2004 edited by Michael C. Lord and W. Dennis Stires. Down on the Island, Up on the Main: A Recollected History of South Bristol, Maine compiled and annotated by Ellen Vincen

Book Reviews

Reviews of the following books: Little Pine to King Spruce: A Franco-American Childhood by Fran Pelletier; This Splendid Game: Maine Campaigns and Elections, 1940-2002 by Christian P. Potholm; Giving Voters a Voice: The Origins of the Initiative and Referendum in America by Steven L. Piott; The Interrupted Forest: A History of Maine\u27s Wildlands by Neil Rold