PORTLAND – Sporting his signature long-billed fishing cap, Tom Connolly is a familiar figure at the Cumberland County Courthouse. And as befits a former college debate champion and valedictorian, he loves to talk.

When he gets excited, his words spew forth in loud, rapid-fire clips, and he makes no secret of his disdain for George W. Bush.

So it came as no surprise that the 43-year-old Boston native was easily overheard Thursday when he fired off a bombshell to colleagues: Bush had been arrested 24 years ago in Kennebunkport for drunken driving.

A police officer who heard the courthouse conversation passed the news to a TV reporter. The reporter, Erin Fehlau of WPXT, spotted Connolly later in the day and he agreed to give her a copy of a court document about Bush’s case.

Outside his office, Connolly admitted that he was “excited” when he learned about Bush’s arrest and that he was talking loudly enough to be overheard.

Denying Republican claims that the release of the information less than a week before the election was a dirty trick, Connolly maintained that Bush should have made the public aware of his arrest.

“It’s not a dirty trick to tell the truth,” he said. “Bush is the one who’s been playing fast and loose with the truth.”

Because it was she who approached the lawyer, Fehlau said she did not believe she had been party to a set-up. She identified Connolly only as a local lawyer who had been a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, but Connolly acknowledged Friday that he was the conduit for the information.

He said someone who was in Biddeford District Court when Bush’s 1976 case came up was alarmed that it had never been reported and word trickled down to “a public figure.” That person passed the word to Connolly, he said, though he would not name the public figure.

Connolly’s dislike of the Republican presidential nominee is well-documented.

So is his quirky sense of humor.

For example, Connolly keeps a human skeleton with a skull encased in a crash helmet behind his desk.

At the Democratic convention in Los Angeles, Connolly distributed buttons that said “W is for Wiener,” showing Bush stuffed into a hot dog roll. He wrote a book of the same name and distributed about 700 copies at the state party convention. He also posted the information on a Web site.

Why wiener?

“W, of course, and because he is a wiener – a person who essentially is beyond the yuppie class and has been provided for in a very elaborate way,” Connolly said.

He also supplied conventioneers with hundreds of buttons that read, “Insomniacs for Gore – I’d rather be put to sleep than put to death.” The references were to Al Gore’s bland reputation and the number of executions in Texas since Bush became governor.

Connolly’s oratorical flourishes proved to be of little success two years ago when he attempted to unseat Angus King, the popular independent governor.

King had 59 percent of the vote, compared to 19 percent for Republican Jim Longley Jr. and 12 percent for Connolly, whose campaign signs featured the tan and black swordbill cap he wears just about everywhere.

Connolly, who lives in Scarborough with his wife and three children, first gained public notoriety with his dogged defense of a Bowdoinham farmer who was convicted of the 1988 murder of a 12-year-old baby sitter.

Connolly, who has represented defendants in drunken driving cases, has been outspoken in his support of state control of liquor sales, citing the high costs of alcohol abuse on society.

He said Friday that he has represented hundreds of drunken driving defendants and has sympathy for Bush. But he said it was important for the public to know that Bush has had trouble with alcohol and could revert back under pressure.

“We look at how President Clinton acted out with Monica on his addiction under pressure. It’s conceivable that Bush could relapse,” he said.

A staunch liberal, Connolly also has advocated increases in the minimum wage, state-financed college tuition and government loans for worker buyouts of some shutdown factories.

“Tom Connolly is really for the people who need help the most, for Democratic values, which is how he ran his race,” said Gwethalyn Phillips, who chairs the state’s Democratic Party.

On the Net:

www.wienerboy.org