Maine: John Mccain

Good morning, and a beautiful start to this day it is. I'll definitely get out on my XC skis later.

British PM Gordon Brown will address a joint session of Congress later today, to expound upon his call for a global new deal. The BBC has this report on his visit and an interview that they conducted with him earlier:

Gordon Brown will urge the US to "seize the moment" to "make the future work for us" when he addresses a joint meeting of the US Congress.

Mr Brown, the fifth UK prime minister to address both houses on Capitol Hill, is set to issue a plea to the US to avoid protectionism.

See also: From 04 to 08, 110 towns shift color on Maine map

Of the 91 towns that turned from red to blue this year, Rangley and Kennebunkport saw two of the largest jumps.

State representatives for these areas attribute the change to an influx of out-of-staters.

Rangeley, a small Franklin County town, saw the following changes:

New Rasmussen Reports numbers show Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama leading by 13 points in the state, ahead of Republican John McCain.

The 56 to 43 percent margin is a considerable increase over their findings on Oct. 2, which had Obama leading by five points.

DAMARISCOTTA -- State Rep. Jon McKane (R-Newcastle) has some interesting name recognition this election cycle. His name is pronounced the same – although spelled differently – than Republican Presidential nominee John McCain.

In the below video he talks about the confusion.