It had nothing to do with her job.

Lake said the recorded voice on the phone said he was calling on behalf of John McCain, then immediately went into how “Obama is partnering with a known American terrorist.”

The message states: “Hello. I’m calling for John McCain and the RNC because you need to know that Barack Obama has worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, whose organization bombed the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon, a judge’s home and killed Americans. And Democrats will enact an extreme leftist agenda if they take control of Washington. Barack Obama and his Democratic allies lack the judgment to lead our country. This call was paid for by McCain-Palin 2008 and the Republican National Committee at 202-863-8500.”

After taking the call on Oct. 16, Lake immediately called the Hancock County Democratic headquarters in Ellsworth.

She was not alone.

“We got 20 complaints within five hours,” said Heather Martin-Zboray, coordinator for the Hancock County Democratic Committee.

While many Maine politicians, including U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), have denounced the use of the automated “robocalls,” Republican presidential candidate John McCain stands by his campaign tactic.

In a satellite interview aired Sunday on NBC affiliate WCSH, channel 6, in Portland, McCain said he supports the robocalls that link Barack Obama and 1960s radical Bill Ayers.

“McCain said in the interview with News Center that people need to know the truth about Obama, that he socializes with terrorists,” Kara Matuszewski wrote on the WCSH Web site. “He said the calls that Mainers are receiving are truthful and meant to inform.”

Maine Republican Party Chairman Mark Ellis endorsed the robocalls.

“Barack Obama’s connection to an unrepentant domestic terrorist like Bill Ayers is raising red flags across Maine and the nation,” he said in a prepared statement. “That’s why the Obama campaign and the Democrats are so alarmed. They can’t defend this troubling relationship that raises serious questions about Sen. Obama’s judgment.”

Ellis was traveling out of state this week and did not respond to a call asking if Democrats were using comparable tactics.

Efforts to reach Rep. Josh Tardy (R-Newport), Maine House Minority Leader and co-chairman of McCain’s presidential campaign in Maine, were unsuccessful.

Ayers was active in the Weather Underground, a 1960s and ’70s radical group involved in anti-Vietnam war activities and known for its bombings of government buildings.

The extent of his relationship with Obama is disputed among Republicans and Democrats.

Local Democrats complaining about the robocalls they received were as upset about the negative and disturbing tone of the message as they were about its content.

“They’re pretty hateful,” Martin-Zboray said of the calls, “and it translates into the community.”

She said hateful pranks against the Democratic headquarters this year have ranged from tossing banana peels and eggs at the office window to teenagers entering the office, grabbing some campaign materials, and then exiting while shouting “McCain-Palin.”

She said some 1,800 Obama campaign signs have been stolen from lawns in the community.

“I get at least 20 calls a day saying, ‘It didn’t make it 12 hours, Heather,’” she said.

Martin-Zboray and other Democrats also find objectionable photos and other content on the Maine Opposition Research Web site.

According to the site, Maine Opposition Research is “a service to Republicans in Maine.”

“Democrats in the Pine Tree State have not been challenged for the promises they have made or the things they have said,” the explanation states. “It is our hope that this blog will provide the media and Republican activists with working tools to combat Democratic failed policies and to better inform the Maine voters.”

The Web site is provided through a free blog service. While it is impossible to trace the client responsible for the site’s content an anonymous e-mail response from the site to The American claims no political affiliation.

“Maine Opposition Research is not sanctioned by any party but developed out of necessity,” the e-mail states in response to a query from The Ellsworth American. “Democrats have for years been promising reasonable things in order to get elected …. and every cycle they have failed to be held accountable when they do not in any way measurable live up to their election promises.

“Maine Opposition Research — through its affiliated Web sites — tracks the reporting of media while outlining ties members of that media have with the Democratic Party; highlight those major donors who fund the Maine Democratic Party; highlight the Democrats who are either under investigation or have been arrested and the Democratic scandals that are too quickly forgotten by the media.”

According to the e-mail, the content of the site is provided by five volunteers who scour Maine’s media to compile “stories that provide a quote, fact or position of a member of the Maine Democratic Party.”

“All five do this quietly and with little fanfare because the goal is not public recognition of the researchers but of the materials they bring to the public’s attention,” the writer concludes.

The Maine Republican Party disavows any connection to the Web site.

“I checked around and no one I found knows who operates Maine Opposition Research,” said Communications Director Jen Webber. “The Maine Republican Party has no affiliation with the blog.”

The site profiles Maine Democratic legislators, past and present, as well as political activists and other office holders. The site also includes blogs on issues ranging from Maine’s tax burden to “Maine’s Democratic Media.”

Martin-Zboray is profiled. She fought via e-mail with an unknown blogger to have a photo of her and her children removed from the site. She said the blogger reluctantly agreed to remove the photo.

As for the text of her profile, Martin-Zboray says she could not be more pleased.

The site describes her as the coordinator of the Hancock County Democrats, who has worked for several nonprofits and social welfare agencies in her community. It points out that she is a member of the Surry Conservation Commission, she graduated from College of the Atlantic with a degree in human ecology and she is a “proud member” of the League of Large Animal Medical Advocates.

“I love my Opposition Research page,” Martin-Zboray said. “I look like a saint. It’s great. If that’s what they’ve got on me, that’s cool with me.”

The Web site seeks pertinent quotes from Democrats to add to blogs and insists that links or sources for attribution be included.

The site says it will post only accurate information, and any information on the site found to be inaccurate is removed.

Two minutes after receiving e-mail from Maine Opposition Research explaining the source of the Web content, The American received e-mail from Jeff Grappone at mccain08hq.com.

“Hello there. Am told you are working on a piece about a GOP mailer in Maine,” the e-mail stated.

A 14-page attachment detailed numerous personal, negative attacks made against McCain by Obama and his surrogates.

Examples from the list of “The Obama Campaign’s Extreme Attacks” document Obama’s claims that McCain would disparage him.

The list includes Obama saying the McCain campaign would claim Obama has Muslim connections, that McCain would use race against his opponent and that Republicans would try to frighten voters by pointing out that Obama is black.

Other examples show Obama and his supporters attacking McCain on a personal level, saying he was “losing his bearings,” questioning his upbringing and accusing him of erratic behavior, of “sowing the seeds of hatred and division,” among other remarks.