Maine: Mitt Romney

Dan Billings, a Waterville attorney and Republican activist, said that while Gov. Sarah Palin brings balance to the Republican ticket with John McCain, people still will vote for the top of the ticket, not the Vice Presidential pick.

If she came to Maine to campaign, however, residents would relate to her.

“Gov. Palin in Alaska has done a lot of things Barack Obama claims he wants to do,” Billings said, such as working across the aisle and getting past presidential politics.

The latest Critical Insights poll has given incumbent U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Bangor) a 10-point advantage over her Democratic challenger, U.S. Rep. Tom Allen.

The numbers are as follows: Collins, 50 percent; Allen, 40 percent; Undecided, 9 percent; and refused, 1 percent. They were about the same in the 1st and 2nd congressional districts.

Independent candidate Herb Hoffman was not an option on the poll.

At the Maine Republican convention, Mitt Romney talked to the crowd about his endorsement of John McCain, differentiating him from the Democrats in the race. He applauded the Republican Party for uniting themselves around one candidate.

Click here for the Press Herald’s story on the speech, and here for the Bangor Daily News’ version. See below for our video footage.

The lights are on and almost everyone has left. The convention is over.

It’s been a busy – but productive -- two days for the Republican Party.

In these two days, Republicans from across the state elected delegates to the state convention, elected state committee members, debated their platform and heard from all the major candidates. They also heard from Mitt Romney and Cal Thomas.