Rep. Mike Michaud (D-ME) is an interesting figure. He represents Maine’s 2nd District, which is primarily rural. It is actually the largest, by geographical size, district east of the Mississippi River. While it includes cities like Bangor, Lewiston, and Augusta, it’s a very sparsely-populated district filled with outdoorsmen. Rep. Michaud never went to college, and he spent 29 years working for the Great Northern Paper Company as a member of the United Steelworkers union. He is a Blue Dog, and he is the only member of that caucus serving in New England. His position on abortion has evolved somewhat, but he entered Congress in 2003 as a pro-lifer. During his decade in Congress, he has done most of his lasting work on veteran’s issues.
It’s a conservative profile befitting a representative from, perhaps, New England’s most conservative district. But now Rep. Mike Michaud is seeking the Democratic Party nomination to be their candidate for governor. Suddenly, he has decided to come out as gay.
I love the opinion piece he wrote announcing his sexual orientation. He hits all the right notes. He’s right; it shouldn’t matter. But it does. Coming out as gay now helps him win support in the Democratic primary from the vibrant Portland gay community, which would otherwise consider him the most conservative Democratic in the race. Portland lies in Maine’s other congressional district, the first, and is represented by Rep. Chellie Pingree.
In other words, even if it is true that Rep. Michaud, as he says, made the decision to come out because he became aware of “whisper campaigns, insinuations and push-polls some of the people opposed to [his] candidacy have been using to raise questions about [his] personal life,” the timing here is very convenient for him.
It’s also interesting. He no longer has to care how being gay might play with the mill workers and outdoorsmen in his own district since he isn’t running for reelection there. At least in the primary, those folks will probably still prefer him to some downstate liberal. And Michaud obviously thinks being gay won’t doom him in a general election, which is probably true, although with a strong third-party candidate in the race, it’s hard to say for sure.
This is a rare instance where coming out of the closet actually makes political sense. I wish he had done it when it wouldn’t be seen as a political ploy.
Nonetheless, it really is a great column. The thing is, I agree with what he wrote so completely that I am no more willing to support his Blue Doggy candidacy today than I was yesterday. I think Maine deserves a liberal governor.
