| It's the Maine Democratic Party Convention, and let's face it, the emphasis is on "party."
Having been to a few more of these than I'd like to remember, my recollection is that most of the fun happens Friday night when the delegates from every corner of Maine wander around with their buttons and hats looking for the best hospitality suites.
I'll make one bold prediction: Rosa Scarcelli will have the best hospitality suite, by far. For one thing, she had the good sense of having it at a local bar (Holly's Own Restaurant and Deli in Auburn) instead of in one of those hotel rooms with bad lighting and dogs-playing-poker artwork on the walls.
For another, she got a live band (get ready for a shameless plug). Yes it's true, The Bob Band will playing the Scarcelli Hospitality Suite (find them on Facebook at The Bob Band). This is a four-piece band that recreates the spirit and vibe of America's greatest singer/songwriter Bob Dylan. Ok, it's a tribute band. But it's appropriate. The times they are a changin' indeed.
Rosa will be spending most of Friday doing the meeting and greeting stuff. I'll be honest. When she first decided to begin this endeavor many moons ago, I had my doubts. Only because I've worked with several candidates who were convinced they should be the next governor, congressman, senator, whatever, only to discover after just a few weeks on the campaign trail their blood pressure just couldn't take it. They found out the hard way that the skills you need for governing are a far cry from the skills required for campaigning. Only rarely do you find the two talents in one package. Angus King, for one, but even he would admit that he didn't know that going in. He found out much later that not only did he like campaigning, he was good at it.
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| And so is Rosa. I know, I'm on her campaign and she pays me, but I'm telling you. I have seen very few candidates rise to the occasion as she has. I've seen her walk into rooms filled with cold-hearted skeptics only to leave behind a room full of true believers. She has the same effect whether it's a board room of CEOs or Iron Horsemen at a biker rally (and she's campaigned at both). She connects, and for a candidate running in a small state like Maine, that's half the battle. There are candidates (and you know who they are) who if they sat down beside you on an airplane you'd pretend to be asleep. Rosa is not one of them. People start out suspicious, but warm up to her very quickly, and suddenly what seemed unlikely if not impossible makes all the sense in the world.
I suspect this will repeat itself several times during the convention weekend. People have said to Rosa, to her face, that she should not be running for governor, that it's not "her turn," as if there's some kind of dynasty or rules of succession in the Maine Democratic Party. Well there aren't, or if there are they should be shattered, and Rosa's just the person to do it. So she'll meet plenty of these skeptics at the convention, die-hard party faithful who view Rosa as the skunk at the garden party. But I'm willing to wager (IF I was the wagering type) that by Saturday night she'll have won over a good share of them and be smelling like a rose. (Or Rosa?) Her depth of knowledge, insight, her unflagging energy and enthusiasm continues to astonish.
The convention on Saturday will live up to everything that you'd expect of the Democratic Party - total, unorganized chaos. If you have a schedule for Saturday, throw it away now because nothing will happen anywhere near the time listed in the program. If it says the speeches start at 2, don't plan to be there much before 4 and you won't miss a thing, especially those not-so-spontaneous "floor demonstrations."
A lot of the time will be taken up by the platform debate. Some of the delegates spend a scary amount of time with this, as if the fate of the entire state if not this quadrant of the galaxy hangs in the balance. Don't be ashamed if the phrase "get a life" pops into your mind as you witness this curious phase of the convention. You are not alone.
For the most part, though, platforms don't matter. They CAN matter, as the Maine GOP is discovering. Or as the Maine Democratic Party discovered in 1990 when a bunch of us working with Tom Andrews, then a candidate in the Democratic Primary for Congress, engineered a platform plank supporting a five day waiting period for the purchase of handguns. It was a daring move at the time. And this was at the convention in Presque Isle chaired by none other than John Martin. Andrews is gone (Martin is still upright), but many people believe that Andrews never would have made it to Congress had it not been for that pivotal moment at the convention and all the publicity that resulted. (Historical footnote: Libby Mitchell was a candidate in that primary too). I remember going to the reception with other Democrats and party leaders later that night after the platform debate, which is why I know what a skunk at a garden party feels like. Sometimes it's not a lot fun being the outsider.
But I got used to it, and Rosa will too. Because like Andrews she's saying what she believes and doing what's necessary. She may not agree, but I see her as helping to save the Democratic Party from itself. The Party will face a very disgruntled, restless electorate in November, and it's not the time to offer leftovers. To win, we'll need to serve up some fresh ingredients.
If you attend the convention, I hope you get to meet Rosa and hear her speech. You'll warm to her too, I have no doubt. Her goal for the weekend is a simple one. When the delegates all leave their balloons and banners behind and go back to their hometowns, she hopes they will tell their friends they had a good time, that they found Lewiston to be quite hospitable, they shook hands with a lot of people, even waved at the governor, and there was this interesting young woman named Rosa........
Dennis Bailey is president of Savvy, Inc., a public relations firm in Portland. He has served on a variety of political campaigns including Tom Andrews for Congress, Tom Allen for Governor, Angus King and John Baldacci. This year, he is an advisor to Rosa Scarcelli. |
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