As Maine Goes, So Goes The Nation

A few weeks back we took a quick trip up to Maine.
We found our way to the rocky coast of this rugged state and looked out to the sea.
We marveled at the beauty of this great land and snapped this memorable photo.
There used to be a phrase: "As Maine goes, so goes the nation." This came from Maine's once vaulted reputation as a bellweather state in elections. Maine's September election of a governor predicted the party outcome of the November presidential election in presidential election years from 1832 (if not earlier) through 1844, in 1852, from 1860 through 1876, in 1888, from 1896 through 1908 and from 1920 through 1932.
In 1957, Maine changed its election law to hold all general elections in November. Beginning in 1960 it held elections at the same time as the rest of the United States, ending the tradition of early voting.
For a quite some time now  (like many of the New England states) Maine has been a fairly reliable liberal-leaning state -- no longer a swing state.
But this year, Maine became a bellweather once again with a Republican sweep of the Governor's office and the state legislature. So now, Maine -- like much of the rest of the country -- is red.
As Maine goes . . .
Photo copyright 2010 by Dan Cirucci.