Hastert campaigns for Hamel

BANGOR – House Speaker Dennis Hastert touted Republican congressional candidate Brian Hamel’s history of bringing jobs to northern Maine, saying the 2nd District’s current representative, Democrat Michael Michaud, has not produced similar results.

“Nice guys have to have a record too,” Hastert, an Illinois Republican told a group of about 30 Hamel supporters in Bangor Monday morning. “[Michaud] is someone who has constantly been against economic development and hasn’t brought people together.”

Hastert’s stop in the city was part of a 10-state campaign swing, during which the GOP leader will stump in 16 competitive congressional races before Nov. 2.

Hastert was one of several high-profile surrogates scheduled to visit the state this week to stump for the presidential and congressional candidates.

Today, former Democratic Sen. Bill Bradley of New York, a John Kerry supporter, and Sen. Zell Miller, a Georgia Democrat supporting George W. Bush, are expected to appear in the Lewiston area. On Thursday, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is scheduled to come to Maine to support Bush and Hamel.

Hamel, whom many credit with helping to bring 1,200 jobs to the former Loring Air Force base after its 1994 closure, has been trying to make up ground in his race against Michaud, a freshman from East Millinocket. Polls show Michaud holds a sizable lead in the contest going into the campaign’s waning days.

But between Hastert’s visit and Monday’s announcement that the National Republican Congressional Committee would provide more than $70,000 to bolster Hamel’s crucial advertising campaign in the Lewiston area during the final week, the challenger promised a tight race.

Acknowledging his underdog status, Hamel on Monday cited the comeback of the Boston Red Sox in their American League Championship series against the New York Yankees – easily the most popular reference among New England politicians in the past week.

“[Michaud] had better get used to one of those underdog challengers coming back on November 2,” said Hamel, who had donned a Red Sox cap at the end of his first debate with Michaud on the day of the first ALCS game and predicted the team’s victory.

Michaud spokeswoman Monica Castellanos on Monday dismissed Hastert’s assessment of her boss’s record as disingenuous politicking, pointing to Michaud’s work on the House Veterans Affairs and Transportation committees.

“Clearly anyone who looks at the record can see he has been very effective,” said Castellanos, noting that Michaud, in his first term, helped to secure $47 million for transportation projects in northern Maine. She added that several pieces of Michaud’s legislation have been incorporated into a bill to improve heath care and veterans benefits.

Castellanos also pointed to the editorial pages of every major daily newspaper in the state, all of which endorsed Michaud, with some citing his enviable record as a freshman lawmaker and others his support for working families.