Flanagan mulls election strategy Independent sees King as role model

AUGUSTA – David Flanagan likes to think of himself as a familiar feature of Maine’s political landscape. But the ex-Central Maine Power chief executive may face a preliminary identity crisis among voters as he plots his independent bid to become Maine’s next governor.

Speaking with reporters after registering with the state ethics commission Thursday, Flanagan said he had “good name recognition” throughout the state and that his 15-year tenure at the power company had vaulted him into a position of prominence in Maine’s business community. But it didn’t do much to publicize his privately held feelings about gay rights, abortion, gun control, property owner rights and a wide array of other hot-button issues that haunt candidates on the campaign trail.

Then there is his earlier career as chief legal counsel and adviser to former Gov. Joseph E. Brennan. The 54-year-old Manchester resident only left the Democratic party last week, leaving those who have known him on a superficial level for the last 20 years to speculate on exactly where Flanagan stands in the state’s political spectrum.

Dennis Bailey, president of the Portland public relations firm SAVVY Inc., helped guide another Democrat-turned-independent to the Blaine House in 1994 with the election of Gov. Angus King. He also worked on former Rep. Tom Andrew’s campaign and Rep. Tom Allen’s unsuccessful bid to claim the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 1994. Bailey surmised Thursday that Flanagan must find a way to explain his current political conversion without alienating Democrats and Republicans while nurturing his appeal to Maine’s unenrolled voters. To date, the only candidate who has accomplished that with any degree of success is King, who was supported by many Maine Republicans in 1994 over GOP candidate Susan Collins and is also admired by Democratic and unenrolled voters.

“The good thing about David is that, if he chooses, he can tell his own story,” Bailey said. “He’s more than a utility executive with working class, Catholic roots; Harvard College, Boston College Law School, a one-time, loyal Democrat. His resume could be quite compelling, providing the story gets told the way he wants to tell it. But if he’s unable to get beyond simply being perceived as a utility executive, it’s going to be more difficult for him.”

On Thursday, the story Flanagan was telling the press was one of a Kinglike succession with more than a few not-so-thinly veiled references to the incumbent.

“I want to continue to carry out the independent vision of how this state can be run as we have seen over the last eight years,” Flanagan said. “I believe that Maine is going in the right direction, that we’ve been making real progress and that’s very important to the future of our state. But that progress is very fragile and could be shattered if we return to politics as usual; to a tax-and-spend government that lives beyond our state’s means.”

Later, he acknowledged that the person most likely to “shatter” the progress and “return to politics as usual” is 2nd District Rep. John Baldacci, the perceived front-runner in the 2002 gubernatorial race, who he said was culpable on the basis of his record.

At times, Flanagan sounded like a Republican lamenting the state’s tax policies, which he said have given Maine the distinction of imposing the “heaviest tax burden in the nation.” Elements of Flanagan’s vision for the state, along with his biography, can be found on his Web site, http://flanaganforgovernor.org/about.php.

Then there were moments when Flanagan seemed once again the Democrat, recalling the environmental consciousness he brought to CMP by advocating for fishways and fish passage while cleaning up air pollution and toxic waste sites. Then, he said, there was also his relationship with organized labor.

“I’ve got a labor record for the way we treated our unions to make sure their rights were protected when we sold [CMP] to Florida Power and Light that featured, I think, a first-in-the-nation for our industry incentive contract for our labor union dealing with low-income people,” he said. “It was a great bill, but unfortunately, it didn’t pass.”

As Flanagan hits the campaign trail to collect the at least 4,000, but not more than 6,000 signatures he needs for his nomination petition, he faces an increasingly crowded field posed by one Democrat and at least two Republicans competing for turf. And that doesn’t preclude the possibility of other independents entering the fray. Campaign spending, as always, will be a major issue. Without revealing his net worth, Flanagan vaguely acknowledges he has the financial resources at his disposal to undertake what he expects to be a $2 million campaign.

Although Gov. King spent more than $1 million of his own money to claim the Blaine House in 1994, Flanagan dodged questions concerning how much of his personal wealth he would be willing to invest in the quest. What he did share with reporters was that the King-approach to governance was a style that should be continued.

“Gov. King demonstrated that a centrist independent running on the merits [of] being unafraid to say what he thinks can take the whole prize,” he said.