He was pledging all of Maine’s 21 delegates to George W. Bush’s presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention Monday night when Peter Cianchette invoked the state’s motto, Dirigo.

“Which is Italian for…” said the Italo-American, who quickly corrected himself, “I mean Latin for…”

The flub, broadcast around the vast convention floor at Madison Square Garden, was captured on national television, to Cianchette’s chagrin.

“It was a slip of the tongue,” he said, laughing it off Tuesday during a telephone interview.

Cianchette, who is Maine chairman of the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign, said he was given between 30 and 45 seconds to make his remarks to the secretary of the convention during the roll call portion of the proceedings.

“If you can imagine, there’s so much commotion in the room,” he explained, despite having his remarks written out on paper tucked inside his coat pocket.

He alluded to the state’s motto, translated “I lead,” saying Bush embodied that sentiment “during one of our country’s darkest hours,” referring to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“He is confident and humble, principled and practical, bold and compassionate,” Cianchette said.

During the brief window for delivering his remarks, Cianchette gave nods also to Maine’s two U.S. senators, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both Republican, and plugged the party’s two GOP congressional contenders, Charlie Summers and Brian Hamel.

In spite of the goof, Cianchette said he enjoyed the experience of addressing the entire convention.

On Tuesday, most of the members of Maine’s delegation rode a bus over the Verrazano Narrows Bridge to Staten Island, where they slipped on gloves and knelt in the dirt for about three hours.

They pulled weeds, planted flowers and pruned bushes in Clove Lake Park. The community service project was aimed at showing “Compassion Across America,” one of Bush’s initiatives. Each state was invited to participate in a similar event one day during the convention, Cianchette said. Maine was originally scheduled to target Chinatown, but the destination was changed to Staten Island, he said.

Oliver Wolf, a Lewiston delegate who participated in the beautification project, said the effort fits Bush’s notion of “compassionate conservatism.”

“It shows you can have a conservative mind and still have a compassionate heart,” Wolf said.

During the work session, former Montana Gov. Marc Racicot stopped by to explain the mission and to thank delegates for their labors. Racicot is chairman of the national Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign.

Tuesday evening, Maine delegates were invited to a reception by MeadWestvaco Corp., the parent company of the Rumford mill. After that, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is scheduled to speak at the convention.

Cianchette said his 12-year-old son, Evan, made clear what he wanted for a present from his father’s trip – the terminator’s autograph.

“If I could bring that home, that’s the one trinket he would love. Much better than a crystal apple.”