The aphorism “As Maine goes, so goes the nation” was again in vogue this week. On one hand, it was certainly proved as Sen. Barack Obama easily defeated Sen. John McCain here on his way to becoming our 44th president.

Behind that saying is the reality that divining where Maine and Lakes Region voters are going is nearly impossible.

While Obama carried every town in the Lakes Region, so did Sen. Susan Collins and Charlie Summers, the Republican seeking to fill the 1st District Congressional seat vacated by Tom Allen in his doomed run against Collins.

Only in Sebago did McCain come within 100 votes of Obama, yet in New Gloucester, Standish and Raymond, Collins won by a near 2-to-1 margin. Gray voters chose Collins by more than that, 3,002-1,474.

In the winter, when attendance at Republican and Democratic caucuses shattered records, ardor for Obama over Sen. Hillary Clinton was immense while McCain was swamped by support for Mitt Romney.

But support from the party faithful should still have indicated a better showing for McCain Tuesday given that Collins led the state effort to elect him and that Summers fared so well against Democrat Chellie Pingree.

There were other instances where the call for change in a liberal direction trumpeted by Obama fell on tone-deaf ears as Republican incumbent Reps. Rich Cebra, Richard Sykes, John Robinson, Gary Plummer, Sue Austin and Ralph Sarty will all return to Augusta.

Conversely, what could be perceived as a conservative furor leading to overwhelming support for the repeal of the beverage tax may well have been spent by the time it came to consider the effects of a casino on Oxford County.

Voters in all nine towns covered by The Lakes Region Weekly approved Question 2. Perhaps this is a pro-business message because of the jobs promised during the construction and operation of the casino, but what remains unexplained is why more than 56 percent of the voters in Standish favored Question 2 when those jobs would be at least an hour’s drive away.

Some town referendum questions produced quizzical results as well. The voters in Gray who supported at least some measure of fiscal conservatism espoused by Austin, Collins and Summers also supported spending as much as $2.4 million to convert Pennell Institute into municipal offices.

The $2.4 million is more than the estimated $1.9 million cost for renovations, Gray voters entrusted town officials with approximately $450,000 to cover cost overruns and buy computers and other office equipment.

Too often, liberal and conservative are words used to wrap voters into neat categories. If anything, the momentous and historic elections Tuesday showed that Maine and Lakes Region residents like to vote. The secretary of state estimated turnout would reach 80 percent.

Apparently, residents also don’t need to be told how to vote. On both counts, all should be congratulated.

David Harry, editor