This could get interesting!

Edited below Wed. Noon

We all know lying on her back is Gator Golden's favorite position.  Here's she's jammed

herself into Gator Wife's TV chair.  As you can easily see, she's just a wee

bit longer than the chair is wide.  But it's one of only four chairs she's allowed

to climb into in the house.  (None is in the living room where guests

are welcome so doggy hair doesn't get over visitors' clothing.)  When

this picture was taken Monday, she was sound asleep.  There have

been times, I think, when she's tried to ask us for a her own,

bigger chair.

Now on to the unimportant business of the day.

I say it's unimportant because a whole lot will change before the next 10 days or so are over, possibly beginning as early as today.

Former governor Angus King has jumped into the fray that is to end up next November with the election of a new U.S. Senator from Maine.  Sen. Olympia Snowe (R), you know, has said she will give up her seat in frustration over politics in Washington.  As I said last week, her long service to Maine both in the Maine Legislature and in both houses in Congress, should be honored.   She will be missed.

But is Angus King the person to replace her?  I don't know and I won't have a real opinion until all the combatants are known.  I must say I'm beginning with a negative feeling.  In his announcement and in an interview on WCSH6-TV with Rob Caldwell, King said he believes that as an Independent in Washington he could help bring the two sides together so that what has been described as a broken Congress can mend itself.

When Caldwell ask him if he honestly thought an Independent can be effective, King responded by pointing out that as a two-term Maine Independent Governor he was able to bring both parties together in the Maine Legislature.  He said his election could cause other Congress folk to think about their own elections in the future.  If Maine could replace a Republican powerhouse with an Independent, those others just might start thinking of their own constituents replacing them.

As an Independent, King only needs to gather signatures by May whereas those in the political parties must have theirs collected by next week, a daunting task.  There is a bunch of potential candidates for the June Primary.  Probably the two Democrats with the best chance of winning a Primary and the election itself would be former governor John Baldacci and current U.S. Representative Chellie Pingree.  Both have said they are evaluating their run and, until last night, awaiting King's decision.

Edited:  As I said in the opening, this stuff all could change before the day was over.  At least one piece has changed:  Chellie Pingree apparently didn't agree with me she could beat King.  She withdrew from her Senate bid this morning and said she will seek to hold her House seat.  I also heard a rumor...note:  just a rumor at this time...that John Baldacci also would not be running.  Angus King must be an intimidating factor for Democrats.

There are others considering the run.  However, if I were a betting man, I'd put my money today on Pingree being more formidable to King than he of her.  From watching past elections, I'd say King might be facing the dirtiest ad campaign against him than he can imagine.  Baldacci would face the same obstacle in the primary.  I'm not accusing any candidate of conducting such a campaign, only remembering those very expensive ads a couple years ago paid for by outside political action committees.

There are several prominent Republicans also gathering signatures.  They include Secretary of State Charlie Summers, State Treasurer Bruce Polquin, State Attorney General William Schneider, prominent Republican Richard Bennett, and Scott D'Ambroise, a former Maine town selectman.  There are a couple or three others also thinking about running, but I suspect they either have or soon will decide against it.

However, the winner among the Republicans will face the same negative campaign as King in the election.  Do any of them, Democrat or Republican, have anything in their background that could cause them great embarrassment?  I have absolutely no idea, and, frankly, don't care.  I'm interested in the issues facing us and resolution to our problems.  At least a couple of the candidates have been influential in causing my perceived problems.

Now the wait continues.  Who will be in the primaries for the honor of facing Angus King next November?  We should have a clearer idea by March 15th.

Meanwhile, Gator Golden awoke from her nap and returned to the outside where she gets perched on a fadng snow bank to keep a keen lookout over her property.  She's poised to pounce on any intruder, you know, like a neighboring cat.  (That's my neighbor's driveway which is farther away that it looks.)

Gator