USM’s Lewiston-Auburn campus was the site of some Presidential campaign theater on Friday morning, courtesy of the Barack Obama campaign.
It was “leaked” on Wednesday afternoon that at least one prominent Maine politician would be endorsing the Illinois senator at the event.
Several former and current Maine leaders actually took the stage to offer their support, but the headliner was clearly former Governor Angus King, a popular independent who says he voted for George W. Bush in 2000 – though he went on to campaign for John Kerry in 2004.
More recently, King has become active in the wind farming industry and helped to found a national, “post-partisan” political movement earlier this year known as Unity08. At the rally, he addressed why the group failed to generate enough funds and enthusiasm to run their own candidate:
“Obama stole our vision,” he joked.
Independence was a theme of the day, with King preceded by former state Representative Sherry Huber, leader of Maine Republicans for Obama, and current Independent rep. Dick Woodbury of Yarmouth.
The second-biggest name and cleanup speech came from former Democratic Senator and Walt Disney chairmen George Mitchell. Mitchell occupied the seat currently held by Olympia Snowe from 1980 until 1995, and has remained active in politics since. Last year, he spearheaded the Congressional investigations into steroid use in Major League Baseball, also known as the “Mitchell Report.”