When Republican State House candidate John Painter’s political postcard hit mailboxes three days before the election, Saints Peter and Paul parish leaders were upset to see a photo of their church covering one side of the card, the other side a message from the candidate.

“I was annoyed and surprised,” said parish council member Robert Gilbert. “It put us in a predicament of seeming to be backing a candidate,” which it wasn’t. “It wasn’t proper. … Father was upset the church was used in a political campaign,” he said, adding they had to do something to set the record straight.

Efforts to reach Painter were not successful. Gilbert said Painter’s opponent, incumbent Rep. Margaret Craven, D-Lewiston, was called and told the church was not endorsing Painter.

At each Sunday Mass, Pastor Robert Lariviere announced a political mailing had gone out depicting the church, but the church was not endorsing any candidate.

By Monday, Painter contacted Gilbert and apologized. He released a statement to the Sun Journal saying it was not his intent to suggest the church was backing him. He depicted the church because he considers it a symbol of Lewiston, he said.

“I chose a symbol that is unmistakably a unique national landmark representing Lewiston because I want to focus on Lewiston first, not myself,” he said.

On Tuesday, Craven won, receiving 2,816 votes, Painter, 1,360.

Election afterthoughts, observations:

Dwayne Bickford, executive director of the Maine Republican Party, said two things helped John Kerry coast to victory in Maine:

1. Kerry supporters were the same voters who opposed the Palesky tax cap, and they turned out in force to defeat that initiative by a nearly 2-to-1 margin.

2. Third-party groups supporting Kerry campaigned, canvassed and registered new voters for their candidate.

Jesse Derris, communications director for Kerry’s Maine campaign said it was much simpler: “People were ready for a change. The president’s policies were at odds with ordinary Mainers.”

He also pointed to the Democrats’ field operation, boasting more than 3,000 volunteers working in Maine’s towns and cities. The campaign bused workers from Kerry strongholds, like Portland, to where they were needed, in 2nd Congressional District communities.

Derris said Bush/Cheney rallies where non-Bush supporters were reportedly screened out hurt that campaign’s efforts to draw votes from the unenrolled and registered Democrats.

Pundit: Election good for Baldacci

Christian Potholm, government professor at Bowdoin College, said Gov. John Baldacci was the big winner on Tuesday. He played a critical role in defeating two popular referendums – the tax cap and the ban against bear baiting – that had started out the campaign season with comfortable majorities.

Potholm also suggested Republicans miscalculated the potential vulnerability of 1st Congressional District Rep. Tom Allen, who had given up a spot on the congressional Armed Services Committee, an issue which the National Republican Congressional Committee could have capitalized on, but did not.

College Republicans delighted with youth vote

Republican college students are excited that in Maine, George Bush won the youth demographic vote. A CNN post-election exit poll showed that in Maine and the nation, Bush received 50 percent of the youth vote (ages 18-29), John Kerry received 48 percent, Ralph Nader 1 percent.

That’s an improvement in 2000, when Bush received 45 percent of Maine’s 18- to 29-year-old vote. Republican college students credit their activism along with the president’s message.

“President Bush’s positive agenda for America, pro-growth policies, and shared values are attractive qualities to students in Maine,” said Bates College student Oliver Wolf, who is Maine College Republican vice chairman.

Maine College Republicans have grown to more than 2,000 members at 23 of Maine’s colleges. More than 1,300 new Republican voters are registered to vote on the state’s campuses, Wolf said.

– By Staff Writers Bonnie Washuk and Christopher Williams

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