海角大神

The man who would be king in a fractured Congress rips folksy one-liners in his campaign for US Senate as often as he stumps his post-partisan, moderate-middle speeches.聽

On a poetic early summer morning overlooking the Penobscot River, Angus King doesn鈥檛 disappoint on either front.

鈥淎 guy came up to me recently and characterized my campaign鈥�. He said, 鈥楤y golly, Angus, I鈥檝e always wanted to vote for none-of-the-above, and you鈥檙e it!鈥欌�� King says to laughter and applause from four dozen supporters. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 sort of close, you know. This is an opportunity to say, 鈥楴o, we鈥檙e tired of the way it鈥檚 going now, we鈥檙e tired of the blaming and the back-biting and all that kind of stuff. We want people to work together.鈥� 鈥�

Mr. King 颅鈥� an independent two-term governor, alternative energy millionaire, and former public TV talk show host 鈥� wants to be heir to Sen. Olympia Snowe, the well-liked Republican who threw up her hands in disgust at Washington partisanship when she announced her retirement from Congress.

For now, the race is his to lose. The question is whether Maine鈥檚 sending an independent to the Senate would be just another example of the state鈥檚 quirky political traditions, or whether, in an era of hyper-partisanship and polarized voting, its electorate might actually be onto something.

鈥淢ainers like people who buck the tide and who demonstrate their abilities. We鈥檙e not so willing to take chances on people with no experience,鈥� says Cathy Anderson, a bookstore owner in Bangor, a city of about 30,000 in central Maine. 鈥淲e want change but we also want some insurance that it鈥檒l work out.鈥�

In February Ms. Snowe stunned voters in the Pine Tree State and colleagues in Washington when she said she wouldn鈥檛 run for a fourth term, citing 鈥渁n atmosphere of polarization and 鈥榤y way or the highway鈥� ideologies.鈥� Current and former Maine members of Congress had positioned themselves to run until King pulled the rug out by announcing his candidacy.聽

Since then, King has consistently polled double-digit leads over any challengers. A survey of Maine voters taken the two days after the June 12 primary elections and released Monday show him beating his Republican and Democratic challengers, 50 percent to 23 percent to 9 percent, respectively. Several other independent candidates are also running.

It鈥檚 not surprising then that King often slips and speaks as if he鈥檚 already won. One of his central arguments is that if the US Senate ends up evenly divided in November, his vote as an independent could end up making him kingmaker, swinging control of the chamber to either Democrats or Republicans.

鈥淭his is a time to say a pox on both your houses,鈥� Deborah Krichels, an educator who voted twice for King as governor, says while standing in a supermarket parking lot in Maine鈥檚 largest city, Portland. 鈥淢aine has a tradition of electing independent people with integrity.鈥�

On the day after the primaries, at the former pizzeria that now houses his campaign headquarters, King insists that his coy 鈥渨hom-will-I-caucus-with鈥� position is pragmatic.

鈥淚 want to stay as independent as I can be as long as possible, up to but not including being ineffective,鈥� he says in an interview with the Monitor, 鈥淚鈥檓 not going down there just to make a point. It wouldn鈥檛 be fair to Maine.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檝e been campaigning for three months, talking to people in coffee shops, restaurants, on the street, in gas stations, in grocery stores,鈥� he says, sipping a Coke and occasionally toying with the eyeglasses that hang around his neck like a librarian鈥檚. 鈥淎nd I鈥檓 not kidding you. The No. 1 thing they say is: 鈥楪o down there and try to make it work. Why can鈥檛 they talk to each other? Why can鈥檛 they compromise? Why can鈥檛 they listen? Why do they have to keep blaming each other?鈥� That鈥檚 what鈥檚 on people鈥檚 minds.鈥�

Shrewd business decisions including investments in alternative energy and wind-power generation have given King sizable personal wealth. And his popularity as governor, including his best-known initiative 鈥� giving all middle school students a laptop computer 鈥� has lingered nearly 10 years after leaving office.

Both those reasons put him in a position to run an unconventional campaign. He already spends at least an hour a day on Facebook personally responding to messages, and the day after primaries, King called for his competitors to eschew money or support from "super PACs" 鈥� the unaffiliated, often secretive organizations that are expected to spend tens of millions of dollars to sway voters across the country. His Republican and Democratic challengers have rejected the proposal.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an empty, hollow gesture on his part,鈥� says Charlie Summers, a Republican secretary of state, former state senator, and US naval reserve commander. 鈥淗e had seven great years of the economy as governor. Anyone could鈥檝e been governor then: I mean his toughest decision was: How many laptops do you buy? When all his chickens came home to roost 鈥� people will realize Angus鈥檚 mess. When these issue are laid out, the bloom will come off the race.鈥�

鈥淭o say that we鈥檙e going to disavow super PACs in my mind is like agreeing to disavow world hunger. It鈥檚 just this lofty platitude that really has no outcome for real people,鈥� says Cynthia Dill, a Democratic state senator, former state representative, and lawyer. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just an issue to make Angus King look good.鈥澛�

L. Sandy Maisel, a political scientist at Colby College, says Maine has a tradition of electing independent-minded politicians like Olympia Snowe or the state鈥檚 other Republican senator, Susan Collins. Republican Sen. Margaret Chase Smith, Independent Gov. James Longley, and Republican Sen. 聽Bill Cohen all reflected Maine鈥檚 penchant for moderation.

Mr. Maisel says super PACs and outside spending represent a genuine threat to King鈥檚 high-minded campaign. He says King鈥檚 effort to portray himself as not beholden to either political party will play well among Maine voters, but it鈥檚 na茂ve to think as an independent he might be able to play kingmaker in the Senate, where 60 votes are far more important to passing legislation than a simple majority.聽

鈥淗e may be able to negotiate for a better committee, but he鈥檚 not going to be able to negotiate for [Senate minority leader]聽Mitch McConnell or [Senate majority leader]聽Harry Reid to be getting together and singing 鈥楰umbaya鈥� or anything,鈥� Maisel says.聽