Connolly dons masks to influence voters

PORTLAND – He shows up at busy intersections and roads, from Portland to Calais, wearing a George W. Bush mask and dancing a herky-jerky jig as he entertains motorists and draws attention to his anti-Republican message.

The dance is the “Wiener Boy Shuffle” (think W is for Wiener), and the man behind the mask is none other than Tom Connolly, the lawyer who made Bush’s drunken driving conviction public before the 2000 election.

Enjoying his masked anonymity, Connolly has chosen to take the road less traveled with a mix of guerrilla theater and political satire.

“I’m an army of one,” Connolly said from behind his desk piled high with legal briefs and books. “I give people permission to disagree in a way that being straight wouldn’t do. Humor is nothing more than tension relieved.”

Connolly has his roadside routine down. He dons the Bush mask, falls down, bumps into things. He’ll be near an interstate exchange one day and on the Casco Bay Bridge the next. He has been spotted on roadsides in Bangor and Calais.

The goal of his Bush-meets-the-Three Stooges schtick is to get the president’s supporters to think about their choice, even if that reaction is a motorist’s outstretched middle finger, Connolly said.

Other times, he puts on a John Kerry mask and his demeanor changes. He has been seen wearing boxing gloves and robe before the debates, and a Boston Red Sox uniform during the World Series.

The former Democratic gubernatorial candidate gained national notoriety after he released records of Bush’s drunken driving arrest days before the election four years ago. His anti-Bush antics have been well documented.

At the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angles, Connolly distributed buttons that said “W is for Wiener” showing Bush stuffed into a hot-dog roll. These days, he sports the “Bush Hates Freedom” button.

After getting death threats and having garbage dumped on his lawn, the anonymity of the mask is fine for Connolly.

He said he sees it as a safe way to do what he views as a moral imperative for any conscientious citizen: debate the issues.

Some drivers give Connolly the thumbs up, while others have angrily stopped to confront him. He always has an escape route in mind.

“I wouldn’t do it if I thought it was ineffective,” Connolly said. “In my sphere, I don’t know what else I could really do given my resources, given my talent and my abilities.”

Though the Maine Democratic Party doesn’t endorse his shenanigans, party officials said the negative attention toward Bush isn’t bad.

“He’s a great Democrat,” said Dorothy Melanson, chairwoman of the state Democratic Party. “He points out, just by dressing as Bush, the deficiencies of this president. And that’s always helpful to our cause.”

Bush campaign officials in Maine, however, declined to comment on Connolly, whose flourishes and eccentricities proved of little success during his 1998 attempt to unseat popular incumbent Gov. Angus King.

Those eccentricities – a black and tan swordbill cap, the unflappable energy when he speaks – are what many, including his wife, cherish.

“Tom and I have been married 13 years, and it’s probably taken that time to appreciate that he’s marvelously eccentric,” said his wife, Elaine Connolly, who often and unexpectedly sees her husband in costume on the side of the road.

Connolly said he set out this year with more modest political goals than when he ran for governor. He wanted to engage about 50,000 on the campaign trail. He estimates he has made about 25,000 contacts so far.