Chellie Pingree’s Campaign Diary
Local Issues, National Press
(Editor’s note: Chellie Pingree, former majority leader of the Maine State Senate, is a member of UAW Local 1981 and a candidate for the U.S. Senate. Her race has become one of the most closely watched in the country. Political observers say Pingree has a serious chance to defeat incumbent Republican Susan Collins, which would make her the first UAW member ever to serve in the Senate. Below, in her third installment, Pingree shares another story from the campaign trail.)
Mainers are used to seeing our towns swell with summer visitors every year. What’s new this year is that the national media is here, too, covering our U.S. Senate race.
It’s been exciting to see how our campaign is important nationwide to people who care about working-family issues such as prescription drugs, health care, good jobs and education. Still, it is Mainers and their concerns that drive our campaign.
In May, I was fortunate to host Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle at Portland, Bangor and Waterville events. Sen. Daschle, D-S.D., has been a good friend to the campaign, and I was pleased with how excited Mainers were to meet him. Time magazine even came along — a reporter and a photographer crammed into an SUV with the senator and I for a bumpy ride.
I was particularly touched when we stopped in Waterville to visit a couple I know who struggle to pay the high cost of prescription drugs.
Norman Quirion is a retired police officer, who with his wife Geraldine, drives to Canada twice a year to save money on their prescription drugs. In fact, the thousands the Quirions save by crossing the border pay their taxes and fuel bills for the entire year.
Unfortunately, not all people are able to make the six-hour round trip to Canada.
A friend of Norman’s can’t afford to buy medications for himself and his wife, so they take turns on an enormous health risk by skipping their medications a month at a time. Norman broke into tears when he told this story, and Daschle was clearly moved.
My first priority in Washington will be to work with Daschle on a real prescription drug benefit that will help the Quirions and their friends live without the fear that comes with not being able to afford life-sustaining drugs.
Time ran a photo of Daschle and I discussing policy as we drove to an event, with a story about how important Maine’s race is to maintaining the Democratic majority in the Senate. No wonder all eyes are on us.
Another round of national press was sparked in June, when a White House electronic slide show illustrated that the White House considers Maine’s Senate seat to be one of a few in which a Democrat could unseat a Republican incumbent.
A USA Today reporter recently stopped by my campaign office and subsequently wrote a column called “Senate candidate has Rx for success.” And The New York Times has reported twice recently on my plan for reducing prescription drug costs.
Though the national attention drawn to this race has been exciting, it is still the hearts and minds of my fellow Mainers that matter most. I want to work as hard for them on the national level as I did as a state senator from 1992 to 2000.
The poll showing that voters like what I’ve done here in the state has been the biggest reward so far.
Please e-mail questions or comments to info@pingree.com and be sure to write “UAW question/comment” in the subject line.
