Hillary Clinton’s running mate Tim Kaine made an unexpected stop in Maine Thursday — he was here to attend a private fundraiser, but he also stopped at Clinton’s campaign headquarters in Portland to rally volunteers.
The stop underscores a tightening presidential contest in a state Democratic presidential candidates used to take for granted.
Kaine swooped into the steamy subterranean campaign office on Congress Street. First he used a volunteer’s cellphone to call Democratic activists, urging them to continue to support Clinton with dollars, shoe leather — whatever it takes. Then the senator from Virginia addressed the volunteers.
He held up two books. One by he and Clinton titled “Stronger Together,” the other by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump titled, “Crippled America.”
“If you look at that picture, you see this doom and gloom look as [Trump is] sitting in the penthouse, high tower, looking over the world. And to him as he looks out at our country that’s what he sees,” he says, pausing for a moment and shaking his head. “I do not see anything in this country, as I travel around — and I’m with Americans every day — that resembles this America that Donald Trump is describing. I know we’re stronger together.”
The demonstration was designed to reinforce Clinton’s and Kaine’s optimistic view of America. But recent polls suggest Trump’s dystopian vision is gaining favor with Americans, and Mainers.
Three recent surveys in Maine show a tight race and a stark divide between the state’s two congressional districts. In the more urban 1st District, Clinton leads comfortably. In the rural, more conservative 2nd District, Trump has a lead.
Kaine made a point to mention the 2nd Congressional District.
“Because of the way you guys do electoral votes the CD2 race is really important,” he says. “Obviously not just to win in Congress but to win the electoral vote, so we have that in the bank as we move forward to getting over 270.”
Two hundred and seventy refers to the number of electoral votes needed to win the presidency. Maine’s four electoral votes may seem like an insignificant figure in the math, but the tightening race has some noted prognosticators plotting Trump’s path to the White House through Maine, either by capitalizing on Maine’s unique way of dividing electoral votes or winning the state outright.
Such a division has never happened in the state’s history. And no Republican presidential candidate has taken Maine since George H.W. Bush did in 1988, but the polls show Trump has a shot. Republican Gov. Paul LePage, often compared to Trump, has been successful with Maine voters. And all of that makes Democrats here nervous.
