PORTLAND (AP) – Former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell says his political experience more than prepares him for life as chairman of the Walt Disney Co.

Some shareholders are worried that their new chairman is spreading himself too thin. But Mitchell says he hasn’t decided if he will resign from the three corporate boards he serves on besides Disney’s.

“I was majority leader of the United States Senate for six years. Believe me when I tell you that the demands on my time since I left that position are far less than they were when I held that position,” Mitchell said. “I devote whatever time is necessary to meet the task.”

He pointed out that he has been on the Disney board for nine years and has never missed a meeting.

Mitchell, a U.S. senator from Maine for 14 years, was elected Disney’s chairman last week. But a quarter of investors voted not to approve the board’s choice of Mitchell as chairman.

“In any other endeavor in life, getting 76 percent favorable and 24 percent unfavorable would be very satisfying,” he said. “In this sense, I recognize that many stockholders are unsatisfied with the performance of the company.”

Mitchell said he believes investors who withheld their votes were registering their disappointment with the company’s management, not holding a referendum on him personally.

Some investors criticize Mitchell’s relationship with Michael Eisner, saying he is too close to the man who until this week was Disney’s chairman and CEO. Eisner will continue as the company’s chief executive.

Mitchell says those investors don’t know the facts.

“What am I supposed to do, be rude to Mr. Eisner? Not talk to him?” Mitchell asked. “The reality is we have a cordial relationship, but we are not close friends in any sense.”

He said he and his wife had dinner with Eisner and his wife only twice since he joined Disney’s board nine years ago.

Mitchell also said that he will focus on doing the best job he can for shareholders rather than looking for ways to buff his own image.

He will run meetings of Disney’s independent directors, and help set the company’s agenda. Mitchell said the board will meet next month to further define his duties.

Mitchell said he will work with other board members to refine the company’s strategy.

“I do not intend to run the company,” he said. “That’s not the role of the chairman. That’s the role of the chief executive officer and management.”

AP-ES-03-06-04 1231EST