OBAMA’S DIRIGO APPEAL

Not surprisingly, Sen. Barack Obama handily won the Democratic presidential caucuses in Maine on Sunday. Not surprisingly, because Maine historically has been a safe harbor to candidates perceived as poised to rattle the walls of the party palace. In 1984, Colorado Sen. Gary Hart topped eventual Democratic nominee Walter Mondale, the former vice president, in Maine. In 1988, activist Jesse Jackson finished a close second to eventual nominee Michael Dukakis. Former California Gov. Jerry Brown created a buzz here in 1992, finishing in a near tie with Massachusetts Sen. Paul Tsongas; eventual nominee Bill Clinton finished fourth. In 2004, long-shot candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich scored with 16 percent of caucus attendees in Maine.

To understand what is truly fresh about Sen. Obama, consider the Clinton administration (1992-2000) and the Bush administration (2000-2008). Bill Clinton the candidate sold himself as a “new kind of Democrat,” breaking with the tax-and-spend images of the party’s past and creating a budget surplus. As president, he steered the party to the center. For initiatives such as health care and welfare reform, he – and first lady Hillary Clinton – fired up what became a never-ending campaign to win the public’s hearts and minds.

George W. Bush, on the other hand, lost the popular vote in 2000, but took the electoral win as a mandate. Despite ruling over a closely divided Congress, Mr. Bush offered his initiatives – tax cuts targeted to the wealthy, rolling back environmental regulations, invading Iraq – as take-it-or-leave-it propositions. In seeking re-election, Mr. Bush used the divisive gay marriage issue to win key states such as Ohio.

Sen. Obama’s candidacy represents something quite different from the “Can we meet in the middle?” plea of the Clinton administration, and the “My way or the highway” stand of the Bush administration. He claims he would bring leadership, as defined as the ability to take people where they are not necessarily ready to go.

In a telephone interview last week with the Bangor Daily News, Sen. Obama made his case. Not having been in Washington for the “slash and burn” politics of the 1990s, he suggested he would not bring grudges to the White House. And he does not assume Republicans are the party that would starve poor children and throw the elderly onto the street. “Some of it has to do with tone,” Sen. Obama said of his plans to work with the GOP. “We share a set of common goals,” he said of Republicans, and pledged to be “as tight with a nickel” as anyone.

Every bit the policy wonk that President Clinton was, Sen. Obama has well-developed positions on the issues. Yet the sound bites chosen by TV and radio tend to reflect his lofty, visionary rhetoric.

Though the question wasn’t asked, Sen. Obama offered a defense of the all-too-handy “inspiring” label. He said one should not underestimate the importance of inspiration, especially as a critical first step to leading people toward a common goal. Perhaps it’s fitting that Maine, with its Dirigo, or “I lead” motto, embraced Sen. Obama.