11/03/2008
from the Kennebec Journal
Sport of Kings
New Medicaid billing system inspires doubts among some
Christmas spirit
Guidance counselor: Dismiss complaint based on criticism of same-sex marriage
CHELSEA: 'Practice burn' provides thrill for 9-year-old
Trust eyes orchard purchase
GOLFER OF THE YEAR: Bonenfant rises up Cony ranks
YOUTH SOCCER: Local team gives 'care package' to children in Afghanistan
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Kennebec Journal
from the Morning Sentinel
YES ON 1 BACKER REBUTS CLAIM
New system for Medicaid payments worries providers
After petition drive, Clinton police force budget will go a third time before voters
A rock musician makes trip home via Black Taxi
MADISON: After revaluation, abatement requests reviewed
Parks to have facelift
GOLFER OF THE YEAR: Sweet does job for Madison
YOUTH SOCCER: Local team gives 'care package' to children in Afghanistan
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Morning Sentinel
You've heard the old saw, "As Maine goes, so goes the nation."
What's behind it?
After establishing statehood in 1820, Maine decided to hold gubernatorial elections in September.
"The idea was, Maine people went to the polls in September because, by the time November rolled around, travel was difficult," State Historian Earle Shettleworth said.
So in 1840, when the state voted in Edward Kent, a Whig, as governor, the Whig Party took it as a sign that its presidential candidate, Gen. William Henry Harrison, the "hero of Tippecanoe," would win the presidential race two months later with his running mate, John Tyler.
The Whigs wrote this little ditty to spread the word:
"Oh, have you heard how old Maine went?
She went hell-bent for Governor Kent --
And Tippecanoe and Tyler too!"
Then, in November, Maine and the rest of the country elected Whig candidate Harrison, who defeated incumbent Democrat Martin Van Buren. Thus the phrase from the Whigs: "As Maine goes, so goes the nation."
The Almanac of American Politics describes it this way: "In the days before polls, the results here were taken as a gauge of national partisan movement."
The slogan caught on, but as Time magazine pointed out in a 1957 article, Maine's gubernatorial choice accurately predicted the presidential outcome in only 17 of 29 elections from 1840 until the 1950s.
One of the years when the saying didn't hold up was 1936, when Mainers chose Republican Gov. Lewis Barrows in September but the vast majority of the country backed Democrat Franklin Roosevelt two months later.
Maine and Vermont's choice of Republican Alf Landon that year led Roosevelt's campaign manager to quip: "As Maine goes, so goes Vermont."
The saying was officially put to rest in 1957, when Maine voters decided to move the gubernatorial election to November, which began with the 1960 election.
Susan Cover -- 620-7015
scover@centralmaine.com




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