Baldacci’s special recipe for success – accessibility, humor, compromise, perseverance, respect for others – has surprised and impressed the skeptics.
By Christopher Williams
Staff Writer

AUGUSTA – More than a dozen Brownies dressed in T-shirts and shorts closed in around the desk where the man in the blue suit sat waiting.

“So what questions do you have for the governor of Maine?” he said.

One of the girls pointed to the top of the tall double doors that open into his office. She asked why a pineapple was carved into the oak casing.

A startled John Baldacci squinted at the door. He said he did not know, expressing doubt that it was, in fact, a pineapple at all.

He beckoned his secretary from her desk at the outer office. She confirmed the identity of the fruit, explaining that it is a common symbol of greeting, a welcoming gesture.

Baldacci turned to the girl and admitted it was a good question. For her astuteness, he rewarded her with one of the newly minted Maine quarters he kept hidden in a “secret” drawer.

Early successes

It is a telling moment, revealing three characteristics that have contributed to the early successes of Maine’s newest governor: accessibility, humility and a willing deference to more knowledgeable sources.

Baldacci’s first five months as naval architect of the ship of state – a pet metaphor of his – have, by most assessments, gone well since his inauguration and nearly as he planned. And with more results than many expected.

Since January, he:

• Balanced the budget for the next two years while closing a projected $1.2 billion gap.

• Rebalanced the current year’s budget twice to bring spending in line with falling revenues.

• Received legislative approval for $60 million of his original $70 million economic stimulus bond package, which later got public endorsement at a June referendum.

• Gained approval of an oft-touted-but-never-enacted state budget spending cap.

• Passed a law creating so-called Pine Tree Zones, aimed at spurring economic development in economically troubled areas through tax incentives.

• Won bipartisan backing of a first-in-the-nation universal health care plan aimed at providing the state’s estimated 180,000 uninsured workers with coverage by 2009.

Not a leader?

Many had doubted the leadership abilities of the former U.S. representative from Maine’s 2nd District. His reputation during his eight years in Washington was earned doing constituent work largely behind the scenes, rather than on the floor of the U.S. House. Although he was popular with voters in western and northern regions of his home state, his record was largely undistinguished, his achievements unimpressive.

“I can’t think of anything to point to as a member of Congress,” said Douglas Hodgkin, Republican Party activist and retired political science professor from Bates College in Lewiston.

Many political observers did not hold high expectations for a Baldacci administration. Although he also had served for 12 years in the Maine Legislature and several more in the local politics of his hometown Bangor, Baldacci was not generally perceived as a visionary or party leader.

In fact, during his tenure in the Maine Senate, his moderately conservative leanings often put him out of step, even at odds, with other Democrats.

In Congress, he appeared liberal because the partisan politics of Capitol Hill left little room for defection on major votes. Political opponents sought to paint him with a “liberal” brush despite his earlier, more conservative voting record.

When he tapped Dennis Bailey late last summer to serve as consultant to the Baldacci gubernatorial campaign, the former senior adviser and communications director for Baldacci’s predecessor, former Independent Gov. Angus King, did not jump headfirst. Bailey’s preferred candidate, David Flanagan, had just dropped out of the race and Bailey was busy with other clients at his Portland business, he recalled in a recent interview.

More to the point, Bailey had reservations. Surprisingly, the longtime political operative did not feel he knew enough about the man who had held elective office in state and federal politics for more than 20 years.

“I have to admit I don’t think I gave John enough credit,” Bailey said.

Baldacci phoned Bailey and, acknowledging Bailey’s low comfort level, proposed a meeting at Bailey’s office.

Bailey was impressed. “I walked away with a different impression of John,” he said.

“He has an intellect, a very keen political sense” and a rare political intuition, Bailey said. Best of all, Bailey said, “He didn’t try to snow me.”

Baldacci had told Bailey that many people had the wrong impression of him.

A good listener

Baldacci had campaigned on a pledge to balance the state budget without raising taxes.

Bailey, who helped pen Baldacci’s inaugural address, remembered writing in that speech that during the new administration there would be no broad-based tax increases. “Every time I wrote that line, John would cross it out.” He replaced it with, “no tax increases,” period, Bailey said. “He just wouldn’t budge.”

His refusal to back down “sent a very important signal” to Republicans, he said.

There had been doubters.

Joseph Bruno was one of them. With Democratic majorities in both legislative chambers last session, Baldacci likely could have forced his agenda down the throats of the GOP, including tax increases, to help erase a projected deficit, the House minority leader from Raymond remembered thinking.

“He could have done whatever he wanted to do,” Bruno said.

Instead, Baldacci chose to stick to his campaign promise. He also engaged Republicans early on in the session, a diplomatic effort that GOP legislators welcomed.

Months before he took office, the governor-elect climbed the stairs to the House Minority Office and knocked on the door, an unusually deferential gesture for the state’s chief executive.

Baldacci proved to be attentive to those with opposing viewpoints and not a know-it-all, Republicans said.

“He listened to our concerns and treated us with respect,” Bruno said. He speculated that Baldacci’s empathy with the Republicans in the Legislature might have stemmed from spending eight years in Congress as a member of the minority party “not getting listened to,” Bruno said.

“I’ve been very comfortable working with the governor,” said Republican Sen. Chandler Woodcock, assistant minority leader from Farmington, who noted Baldacci’s willingness to compromise on details. “He’s treated us very fairly.”

They also admired his reluctance to point a finger at prior administrations for his current woes.

Baldacci also relied on party leaders to bring more liberal members of his party into line when they threatened to bolt over some of the more drastic budget cuts, such as children’s mental health services.

Despite his ignorance of the pineapple and its meaning, Baldacci quickly established an open-door policy with all state lawmakers, regardless of their party. And not only members of the Legislature.

While lobbying for his universal health care plan, Baldacci invited hospital CEOs from around the state to meet with him in the Cabinet Room, just off the governor’s office. He listened as they railed against the notion of reining in health-care costs by capping annual hospital operations and patient charges. After the meeting, the prospect of a compromise seemed bleak. But Baldacci was characteristically upbeat. They just needed to talk more, he said. A month later, the head of the Maine Hospital Association was standing on the Blaine House lawn applauding the signing of the new law.

His ability to sway Republicans came as a surprise to many skeptics. Kevin Glynn, one of the more conservative GOP House members, served on the select joint committee that voted out the governor’s Dirigo Health bill after weeks of rancor and seeming stalemates. Glynn ended up voting for the program and urged his colleagues at a party caucus to do likewise.

When Bailey heard that, he was dumbfounded. “I thought, ‘I’ve crossed over into a parallel universe,'” he said.

Bailey’s former boss also took note.

“I talked to Angus about it the other day. He was really impressed that John got it through in a bipartisan way,” Bailey said.

During King’s last legislative session as governor, state lawmakers had passed a resolution that aimed at guaranteeing all Mainers access to health care.

Hodgkin, the Republican pundit who highlighted Baldacci’s lackluster performance in Washington, acknowledged the Democrat’s successes in Augusta this year.

“He has been able to shepherd some very large issues through the Legislature,” Hodgkin said. “And he generally gets widespread favorable coverage and credit for these accomplishments.”

Woodcock’s only complaint was with the governor’s ambitious timeline for pushing through some of his more weighty initiatives, such as health care.

“I think things moved a little too quickly,” he said.

Comparisons are inevitable

Reviewing the accomplishments of a head of state invariably invites comparisons.

Most new governors hope to make a big splash after taking office, having spent months on the campaign trail touting their bold new ideas. And Legislatures are often willing to extend to them an initial honeymoon period.

Baldacci’s immediate predecessor also accomplished much despite the political handicap of not belonging to a party. Yet while that might have worked to his advantage — appearing nonpartisan — it often hampered efforts to realize his political agenda.

King had written a book that defined his platform. In it, he outlined not only his political beliefs, but also a punch list for state government. Some of those ideas stayed on paper, such as his proposed merger of the Maine Turnpike Authority and the Maine Department of Transportation. When he looked into MTA’s books and saw how much debt it was carrying, he quickly dropped the notion.

With no prior political experience, at least in elective office – he hosted a public affairs program on Maine Public Television – King might have been somewhat disillusioned about the trench warfare part of the political process. He surrounded himself with former legislators and lobbyists who knew the ins and outs of Augusta. But, because the independent governor lacked a ready ally in the Legislature, he had to forge a new coalition on every bill, Bailey said.

Although he was elected with solid Republican support his first term, after King took office GOP members in the Legislature quickly lined up against him, led by then-Senate President Jeffrey Butland.

“The Republicans were our nemesis,” Bailey said, still unsure exactly why. “We thought our problem was going to be the Democrats.”

King tackled welfare reform and made economic development a priority, getting generally good marks his first five months in office.

Major accomplishments included creation of the Business Equipment Tax Reimbursement program that pays back businesses for the personal property taxes they pay on equipment and machinery. He also devised a method for streamlining state government and booked a $45 million savings in the process.

But while Baldacci managed this year to pass a budget that closed a 20 percent deficit by the end of March with a supermajority of legislators, King’s budget, which filled a 10 percent revenue gap, languished in the Legislature until the end of June, the end of the session and the fiscal year.

King often used his public persona to aid in his lobbying efforts, a tactic Baldacci has not employed, possibly because he lacks that attribute.

King would hold forth on issues with little of no preparation, speaking off the cuff – almost professorially – at nearly daily sessions with members of the State House press corps. A high-profile governor, he was charismatic, comfortable with the press and often peddled his programs directly to the public. Later, he even appeared back on TV pitching his policies.

By contrast, Baldacci appears less at ease in the spotlight. At press conferences, he usually refers to a prepared text, even at a ceremonial event, such as a bill signing.

That does not mean Baldacci lacks knowledge of the issues. He often is well-informed on specifics of programs. When in doubt, he calls on advisers who stay close when he is launching a new initiative.

Throughout the eight years King served as governor and Baldacci as congressman, they remained distant personally. Last fall, King was being pressured to endorse Republican gubernatorial nominee Peter Cianchette. Bailey got Baldacci and King together in his office conference room and closed the door on his way out. An hour later, they emerged. Two days later, King announced he would not be endorsing any candidate for governor.

‘Awesome responsibility’

Baldacci’s failure during his first five months to secure passage of tax reform and a second bond package for November referendum does not appear to weigh on him.

Legislative leaders are at work on a compromise as to how much more borrowing they think the state should authorize. And his blueprint for tax reform, which critics argue is nothing of the sort, is evolving, he said in a recent interview. Before Maine can undertake true comprehensive tax reform in an effort to lower its overall tax burden, he now understands it must learn to spend less. That means from the local level up, he said. Only then can a shift in taxation be effective.

He said he has not planned any major initiatives for when the Legislature is due to reconvene in January, other than the merger of several departments of state government.

The man who vowed not to serve more than four terms in Congress is finally in the job he has been eyeing at least since 1994.

“It’s very overwhelming,” he said. “You have an awesome responsibility to all of the citizens to make sure that the ship of state is being run well.”

But he is not whining. “My mother always said: ‘Don’t complain about it … you run for office.’ She also used to say: ‘These are character building times.'”

cwilliams@sunjournal.com