State profile: Maine

Maine has a strong independent streak and personalities are important. Until recently it had an independent governor, and still has one of the weakest party systems in the US.

Its residents, though, are not uninterested in politics. Maine had the highest voter turnout in the country in 1996, and the second-highest in 2000.

Environmental issues dominate the agenda here. This is not surprising, because the two industries which dominate in Maine are both related to the natural environment.

KEY FACTS Population: 1,274,923 (ranked 40 among states) Governor: John Baldacci (D) Electoral college votes: 4

First, timber and paper are vital to the state's economy. Some 90% of Maine's landscape is covered with thick, uninhabited forest, and Maine's 47 paper plants produce about 34% of the state's manufactured goods.

Nevertheless, manufacturing has declined in recent years. The shoe and textile industries, where were big employers here, have shed jobs. In other parts of the state lobster farming is still important.

CONGRESS 2003 House of Representatives: 2 Democrat Senate: 2 Republican

But like much of the rest of the country, unemployment has been kept relatively low by the growth of the service sector. In Maine, this has meant the tourist industry.

The state's dramatic coastline has made tourism the state's biggest industry, while Acadia National Park in the south-east and Portland on the coast, attract millions of visitors each year. Amongst the semi-permanent residents are the Bush family, who have an estate in Kennebunkport.

VOTING RECORD 2000: Bush 44%, Gore 49%, Nader 6% 1996: Clinton 52%, Dole 31%, Perot 14% 1992: Clinton 39%, Bush 30%, Perot 30%

This hasn't helped either President Bush much, though. The first came third, behind Ross Perot, in 1992, while the current President Bush lost to Al Gore in 2000.

The moniker that "as goes Maine, so goes the nation", looks increasingly inaccurate.