Maine has joined a growing list of states that have eliminated their presidential primary.

For Democrats, that means it’s going to be more difficult to make their preference of presidential nominee known next year.

Municipal caucuses will replace the primary. Democrats made the decision to abandon the primary after a lengthy evaluation, and ratified the switch during the 2002 party convention.

The hope is the change will encourage participation at caucuses, where the business of the party is conducted. For typical voters, there’s no reason to take part in a sometimes long political meeting if they can help pick the nominee with a quick stop at a polling place.

The state followed suit during the 2003 legislative session and eliminated the law that allows for presidential primaries.

Caucus meetings are important to the health of a political party. The meetings act as a sounding board for important issues and give participants the opportunity to argue their point and convince their colleagues. Encouraging people to attend the meetings is a good goal, but we’re concerned that this change will reduce overall participation in the political process.

Admirably, the party has developed a way for members to register their presidential preference without attending the meetings. But it requires contacting the party and requesting paperwork, which must be completed and returned days before the caucus is held.

In 1996, more than 90,000 people voted in the presidential primary. In 2000, with Bill Bradley and John McCain challenging eventual nominees Al Gore and George W. Bush, the vote total jumped above 160,000.

There’s a nine-way race for the Democratic nomination going on right now. Contenders John Kerry, Howard Dean, Dennis Kucinich and Wesley Clark have staff already working in Maine. And John Edwards, Richard Gephardt and Joe Lieberman are also paying some attention to the state.

With so many campaigns courting voters and with no clear-cut front-runner, the primary could have easily attracted a record number of Democrats.

President Bush is unlikely to face an intraparty challenge next year, so Republicans don’t have to worry about the change to the caucus format just yet. But they will in 2008.

Democratic caucus meetings will begin between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Feb. 8. Local committees will set the time and place and are required to notify voters and report the schedule to town clerks and state party headquarters. For those reluctant to block off a few hours on a Sunday for politics, we encourage you to contact the state party (www.mainedems.org or 622-6233) and register a preference for the nominee ahead of time.

While making caucuses more important might encourage people to attend, we fear that people – who would have shown up to vote during a primary – will be turned off, intimidated or shut out. Democracy works best when people participate. It’s up to the Democratic Party to educate its members about the caucuses and the campaigns to get their backers to the meetings.


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