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AUGUSTA – He’s in. He’s out. He’s in. He’s out. No wait, he’s back in.
Unlike some of the gubernatorial candidates he has represented this year, Dennis Bailey seems determined to remain in the race for the Blaine House.
A former newspaper reporter, Bailey left journalism in 1991 to work on the successful campaign of liberal 1st District Rep. Tom Andrews. Three years later, he was involved in Tom Allen’s unsuccessful Democratic primary bid. Days after the election, he was contacted by a relatively unknown independent named Angus King who prevailed in a three-way race for governor.
After seven years as King’s spokesman, Bailey stepped down and co-founded his Portland-based Savvy Inc. public relations company. Earlier this year, he agreed to sign on as a consultant for the short-lived Republican gubernatorial candidacy of retired Maine Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Daniel Wathen. When Wathen withdrew, Bailey was immediately picked up by Blaine House hopeful David Flanagan, a former Democrat who staged an independent race that collapsed several weeks ago.
On Monday, Bailey confirmed he was now working for Democratic nominee John Baldacci of Bangor, who said Monday that he and Bailey were pretty close to “inking the deal.”
“Well, we’ve inked it – I think,” Bailey said later in the day. “I will perform whatever functions he desires of me.”
Bailey has been something of a hot commodity in Maine politics since first guiding King through the dangerous white water the political neophyte faced in 1994 against a veteran campaigner like former Democratic Gov. Joseph E. Brennan. The University of Maine graduate and Livermore Falls native said Baldacci has some rough weeks ahead as he plods toward the Nov. 5 election.
“Especially in southern Maine; people down here don’t know him,” Bailey said. “In the 2nd District, people don’t have one Baldacci bumper sticker, they’ve got five. I think part of what John will want some help with is in that area – to help get his story told.”
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