Remember Maine

A grizzled oldster squinted out at the cattle ring of Maine's Oxford County fair and twanged a fateful political declaration. "B'God," said he, "I say I'll vote for any man regardless of party if I like him." Last week and thousands of other individualists in ironclad Republican Maine proceeded collectively to do the politically inconceivable: they elected a Democratic governor (for the first time since 1934). The winner by a resounding 22,000 votes over Republican Incumbent Burton Cross: Waterville Lawyer Edmund Sixtus Muskie, 40, in whose grey-blue eyes shines a light last seen in the early days of the New Deal.

Less dramatic, but equally worrisome to the national Republican Party, was the fact that the winning margin of G.O.P. Senator Margaret Chase Smith was off twelve percentage points from her margin in 1948. Likewise the winning margins of her three congressional running mates were off by an average twelve percentage points from 1952. Granted that they were running against tougher candidates; this, in itself, betokened better Democratic organization. A national trend one-half that strong would mean disaster for the Republicans this fall.

Budding Grass Roots. Last winter, as Democratic national committeeman, Ed Muskie was resigned to another Democratic licking. With just three weeks to go before the filing deadline, party funds were down to about $300, and willing candidates were conspicuously absent. Then Muskie detected a budding of the grass roots. Says he: "Towns that had never held a Democratic meeting started calling state headquarters and asking, 'How do we hold a caucus?' "

Thus encouraged, Muskie went to work, managed to round up five good candidates for major offices—including himself and a senatorial aspirant (History "Professor Paul Fullam of Colby College) who quoted Socrates while explaining U.S. foreign policy. Using a catchy—and, for Republicans, ironic—slogan ("Maine needs a change"), Muskie made his fight on local issues. There were more than enough. Items:

¶The unseemly aroma of a liquor scandal, which Republicans survived in 1952, still hung over the state.

¶Aroostook County potato growers suffered from wet weather and were outraged by Governor Cross's stand against price supports.

¶Textile workers worried about unemployment, and Governor Cross had made no practical attempts to lure new industry to Maine.

¶Clam diggers had their perennial complaint of flats closed because of pollution.

¶Sardine workers were hard up—as usual.