Political Brew: Super Tuesday II, Coronavirus response & Maine's Mt. Rushmore

PORTLAND, Maine — The Democratic party is coalescing behind former Vice President Joe Biden in the presidential primaries. Half a dozen more states voted this past week on Super Tuesday II, and Biden pulled off several wins, including in the crucial swing state of Michigan

NEWS CENTER Maine Democratic political analyst John Richardson says the party is more moderate than many hoped it would be, and voters are looking at who can win the election in the fall.

Richardson says this is not a case of the party establishment unfairly denying Sen. Bernie Sanders a chance. "It wasn't any kind of cabal on the part of Democratic party insiders," he says. "The voters decided this is who we have as the best possible person to beat Trump."

Republican analyst Phil Harriman feels "The younger voters that have been so energetic about Sanders candidacy are not showing up at the polls to support him."

The Trump administration has taken some heat for its response to the Coronavirus pandemic, but our analysts think Maine health and government officials are handling things well.

Richardson says Maine has an openness that Washington has not embraced. He says "You're seeing a lot of information, that information seems to be consistent wherever you're getting it in Maine, and that's been very helpful to calm fears."

Harriman offers praise to Gov. Janet Mills and CDC Director Dr. Nirav Shah, saying "They are strategically preparing for us to behave in ways to minimize the outbreak."

In lieu of choosing political "Winners and Losers" this week, our analysts honored the 200th anniversary of Maine's statehood by suggesting which Mainers should appear on the state's own "Mt. Rushmore."

John Richardson chose four influential Maine women for his monument: Dorothea Dix (an early advocate on behalf of people with mental illness), Margaret Chase Smith (the first woman elected to both the U.S. House and Senate), Harriet Beecher Stowe (author of the highly influential "Uncle Tom's Cabin"), and HIV/AIDS activist Frances "Frannie" Peabody.

Phil Harriman went with just one name, Leon Gorman, who helped make L.L. Bean an internationally known Maine brand and symbol of the Maine lifestyle.

Your moderator did not offer his choices on air, but I will do so here. My Maine political Mt. Rushmore would feature William King, Maine's first governor and a key figure in leading Maine to statehood, Joshua Chamberlain, Civil War hero and politician, Sen. Margaret Chase Smith, and Edmund Muskie, governor., senator and U.S. Secretary of State.

Political Brew airs Sundays on The Morning Report.