At midday on Thursday, the day after the “Day After” an amazing Republican primary finish, the campaign Web sites for the three contenders remained frozen in time – a time before the race was over.

Former Rep. Dave Emery, state Sen. Peter Mills and state Sen. Chandler Woodcock, understandably perhaps, had not updated their Web sites despite tons of new information.

For Woodcock, his win went unmentioned. No where on his page did Mills tell his supporters, or the simply curious, why he was waiting to concede or what his plans might be. And Emery, his Web site remained filled with pre-election hope and anticipation.

Even Gov. John Baldacci, who easily won re-nomination by Democrats, was slow to broadcast the news on the Web.

No doubt, the candidates and their staffers were worn out, dead tired and thinking of things beyond updating their Web site. But for campaigns that made substantial investments in the technology and functionality of Web-based interaction with supporters, the bloggings and Web chats and news updates stopped short of the finish line.

Oops

In an e-mailed note mass mailed to Democrats late Tuesday night – the night of the primary elections – party Chairman Ben Dudley issued a rallying cry.

“Tonight was a great night for the Maine Democratic Party. From our two great Congressmen, Tom Allen and Mike Michaud, to Governor John Baldacci’s strong showing and although the results are yet to come, we will have a strong U.S. Senate Candidate in either Jean Hay Bright or Erik Mehnert; the primaries have resulted in competitive candidates who we are confident will be successful in November,” Dudley wrote.

Pretty standard stuff. Only “Erik Mehnert,” who was still neck-in-neck with Hay Bright Wednesday, is really “Eric.” What’s an extra “K” or a missing “C” among friends at the end of a grueling Election Day?

Turns out Mehnert’s name recognition problem was worse than even the pundits – who often called him little known – predicted.

Snowe’s team

U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe has introduced her campaign team for her re-election bid.

Holly Dana, formerly the policy coordinator at the Libra Foundation, is the director of communications. Alison Bell, a recent Boston University graduate, is the operations director. Alex Caron, a junior at Cape Elizabeth High School, is the campaign’s Web and technical coordinator. And Allison Geagan is the field coordinator.

Snowe also named three interns: Grace Thompson, University of Maryland; Colin Haley, Hamilton College; and Jill Greenstein, Colby College.

The new staffers join Campaign Manager Lucas Caron and re-election chair Ted O’Meara.

The campaign has also opened a new office in Bangor at 175 Exchange St. The office will be headed by fundraising director Cheryl Russell, who joined the Snowe for Senate team in January.

That didn’t take long

Democrats wasted no time in bringing out the knives against state Sen. Chandler Woodcock, the Republican nominee for governor.

With his nomination just a few hours old, Democrats held a Wednesday afternoon press conference followed by a news release that flamed the Republican as a “Bush ‘Yes Man'” and a candidate “out of step with mainstream Maine values,” citing a number of Woodcock votes in the Senate and statements reported in the press.

Tough language isn’t limited to Democrats, though. At a unity press conference where the two defeated Republican candidates pledged to support Woodcock, incumbent Democrat John Baldacci took a few lumps.

“The current administration’s stunning lack of leadership has left Mainers with an unfriendly business environment, stagnant job growth, and the nation’s highest state and local tax burden. The voters know it and the polls show it – it is time for a change,” wrote Maine Republican Party State Chairman Mark Ellis in a news release Thursday after the event.

Noted for its civility, the primary season is over and the real race for the Blaine House has begun.

Formal ‘thank you’ notes

At 9:30 p.m. Tuesday night, state Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, and her husband, were driving around Lewiston.

In the rain, they stuck “Thank you! Peggy” notes to about 100 of Rotundo’s green campaign signs.

She didn’t attach “thank you’s” to all of her 250 to 300 signs, just the ones on the main roads. “Hopefully we put enough up so people will notice,” Rotundo said.

It was work, she said, but it was important to thank voters.

In campaigns where there is little advertising, signs are critical, Rotundo said. “I put signs up even if I’m unopposed.”

It’s her way of showing she takes the campaign, and voters, seriously. “People in Lewiston notice if there aren’t signs.”

Staff writer Bonnie Washuk contributed to this report.