Woo, woo, woo, woo…

That, in case you didn’t recognize it, is the sound of a boomerang about to hit Maine Democrats in the head.

On Tuesday, the chairman of the state’s Democratic Party alleged that candidate Barbara Merrill and state Republicans conspired to “defraud” taxpayers of as much as $1.2 million in public financing for her campaign.

Serious allegations. Unfortunately, they were made without a shred of serious evidence.

Democratic Party Chairman Ben Dudley alleges that the gubernatorial campaigns of Republican Chandler Woodcock and independent Merrill traded $5 contributions in order to help each other qualify for public financing.

The evidence? Woodcock wrote a qualifying check for Merrill, and she wrote one for him. Dudley also revealed that about 45 state Republican lawmakers wrote $5 checks on behalf of Merrill’s effort to qualify.

Dudley is quick to point out that this isn’t illegal. However, he claims it was an unethical attempt by the two campaigns to raid the campaign financing treasury.

Of course, the accused politicians deny everything. Short of producing a memo, letter or tape recording establishing a conspiracy, Dudley is just firing blanks.

We can think of plenty of reasons that Republicans would donate to Merrill’s campaign, and none of them is illegal or unethical.

First, all of the suspects in this alleged fraud work together in the Legislature and probably have developed friendly relationships despite their philosophical differences. When one person asks another for a $5 qualifying donation, they are likely to consider it a gesture of friendship and goodwill.

Second, some of the Republicans may disagree with Woodcock’s strong conservative and religious positions and actually think Merrill is a legitimate alternative to either incumbent Democrat John Baldacci or Republican Woodcock.

Finally, we suspect that many of the Republicans want to see Merrill in the race because they feel she will draw more votes away from Baldacci than Woodcock, thereby diluting his support and helping their candidate win.

That’s not dishonest, and it’s not unethical. That’s just a realistic political strategy.

Beyond all of that, there is nothing in the law prohibiting anyone – including politicians – from donating to more than one campaign. Plus, it takes 2,500 such individual donations to qualify for the public money. A handful of checks from legislative colleagues isn’t about to swing the effort for either candidate.

We suspect voters will be able to sort this all out and, when they do, these hysterical charges will backfire on the state’s Democratic Party and, perhaps, Baldacci’s campaign.

It makes the party look overly eager to start the mudslinging and desperate to discredit its opponents.