Your recent editorial [“Campaign lesson,” Sept. 11], regarding the campaign being conducted against Rep. James Longley by outside special interest groups, missed the mark.

When you asserted that representatives of the coalition who funded this effort “have made themselves known since they arrived,” perhaps you were not aware that their presence was not public until press reports earlier this year uncovered the fact that an out-of-state coalition of special interest groups had been funding an anti-Longley political operative in Maine since the summer of 1995. It was disclosed that this person came from Michigan specifically to work behind the scenes to orchestrate demonstrations and criticisms by various special interest groups against Rep. Longley.

Until the media unveiled the existence of this campaign, the various anti-Longley demonstrations, protests and critical press conferences were seemingly independent of each other. When asked by a reporter about his role in the campaign, the operative replied, “So how’d you find me?”

Maine people know that Rep. Longley has emerged as a strong voice for Maine on the House National Security Committee. He understands the importance of Maine’s 50,000 defense-related jobs. And he has worked hard to preserve them. He helped lead the successful fight to save Kittery-Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and Brunswick Naval Air Station, and has been tireless in his efforts to ensure a bright future for Bath Iron Works, our state’s largest employer.

It is unfortunate that this new brand of negative campaigning has made its debut in Maine. I am confident that Mainers will exercise their usual good judgment independent of this effort. Sen. Olympia J. Snowe Washington, D.C.