LEWISTON – Maine’s sprawling 2nd Congressional District has produced such Republican luminaries as Bill Cohen, Olympia Snowe and the late Margaret Chase Smith, all of whom went on to the Senate and made names for themselves on the national stage.

Then there’s John Frary, a retired college professor known for his trademark hat and cane, who has no such lofty political ambitions.

Frary, who lives in Farmington, dispenses with political etiquette as he describes Congress as a “plurality of political sociopaths” and his opponent as “dumb as a driven nail.” He harbors little hope of winning, but he hopes to get people thinking.

“I can’t change things, but I don’t want to shuffle off to my grave without making some kind of political protest,” said Frary, who’s 67.

A poll released last week indicated Frary has a lot of ground to make up if he has any hope of unseating Democratic Rep. Mike Michaud, who’s from Millinocket. A Critical Insights poll had Frary trailing by a whopping 41 percentage points.

Frary isn’t concerned. His chief adviser, Robert Shaffer, believes Frary has a chance to win precisely because no one gives him a chance.

That’s vintage Frary.

As for Michaud, his unconventional opponent hasn’t required him to dip deep into his campaign coffers this election cycle. He has only one paid campaign staffer, and he began campaigning in earnest only after Congress adjourned last month.

Michaud, a former paper mill worker, arrived in Washington five years ago and put the lunch box he used at the mill in his office so he wouldn’t forget his roots.

Along the way, Michaud has found his footing during his three terms in Washington. He has taken up the cause of improving medical care for veterans through his service on the House Veterans Affairs subcommittee on health. He’s also a voice on trade agreements.

Michaud isn’t taking re-election for granted, however, and he has been crisscrossing the vast district in recent weeks to reach out to voters. He said he wished Frary would lay off the personal attacks and focus on the issues that are important to Mainers.

“This job is a very serious position. It’s not a joke. People are concerned. They’re worried. They’re angry. They want to know, what’s going to happen? Are they going to have a job? Are they going to be able to afford their prescriptions? They’re seeing their 401(k)s dwindling away,” he said. “They want people in Washington to start addressing those issues.”

For his part, Frary isn’t campaigning so much on any particular issue as he is on discontent with Washington politics. In other words, “Throw the bums out.”

Even if he won, he’d commit to serving only one two-year term. “If people don’t like me then the dogs will bark and the caravan moves on,” he said.

Frary calls himself “Professor Frary,” a nod to 32 years of teaching at Middlesex County College in New Jersey before he retired and returned to Maine. He reads five languages and is a military historian. His specialty is Byzantine history.

He has a wry sense of humor and carries himself as something of a modern-day W.C. Fields with his hat – sometimes a straw boater – along with a cane and a carnation on his lapel.

His humor shows on a campaign video as he unsheathes a stiletto from his cane and spears a sandwich from Michaud’s lunch box. “Just as I expected, baloney!” he proclaims.

Republicans haven’t exactly gone out of their way to help the self-proclaimed contrarian. When Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin attended a rally in Bangor, Frary wasn’t allowed to share the stage. The state party was slow to provide an answer.

Frary realizes that the GOP’s priorities are the presidency, the Senate race and the open House seat in southern Maine. But he said the party could at least show appreciation for the fact he’s spent much of his retirement – about $200,000 of his own money – on his campaign.

“Good manners and politics don’t go together,” he said. “I thought they would at least have the courtesy to acknowledge my existence from time to time.”

Anthony Corrado, government professor at Colby College, said the lack of serious competition for Michaud is “remarkable.” But he said part of the credit goes to Michaud.

As a former mill worker, Michaud has connected with residents of the 2nd Congressional District who worry about the economy as manufacturers have left the state, Corrado said. Also, Michaud presents himself as a conservative Democrat in a district which is seen as largely conservative, he said.

The lack of a strong Republican challenger speaks volumes about Michaud, Corrado said.

“The fact that he hasn’t drawn major challenges is the best statement of how even Republicans perceive him as a strong member of Congress,” he said.

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On the Net:

www.fraryforcongress.com

www.michaudforcongress.com