When Maine Politics Was Fun—and Sometimes Funny

Potholm says the book came out of a conversation he was having with a couple of friends who are also old hands from the Maine political scene-PR guru Dennis Bailey, a veteran of many campaigns, and former Congressman David Emery, a GOP insider and political consultant.

"We were talking about how miserable politics is today and how when we were on opposite sides of a campaign, of course we wanted to win, but we didn't think it was 'all or nothing.' We had friends on both sides, and if you lost, it wasn't the end of the world." In fact, adds Potholm, you might even hire your opponent to work on your next campaign. Politics today, he laments, is much less convivial and more divided. "People just didn't do the sorts of things that they're now encouraged to do."

As a result of their conversation, the three friends decided to put together a collection of more than forty essays from dozens of contributors. In addition to contributions from the book's three editors, there are vignettes from a number of well-known political figures, such as former US Defense Secretary and US Senator William Cohen '62, H'75, former Maine governors John Baldacci and Angus King H'07 (currently a serving US Senator), as well as the current state governor, Janet Mills.

Potholm visibly cracks up as he recalls some of the anecdotes: Bill Cohen trying for a photo opportunity with "Andre the seal" while campaigning in Boothbay Harbor and promptly getting bitten on the backside by said mammal; John Baldacci failing miserably in a cow manure throwing contest at a Maine county fair ("I never was good at slinging the bull," quipped the politician); or Maine Governor Janet Mills being attacked by a goose!