While Dill stridently asserts her liberal orthodoxy (she prefers to refer to it as "progressive" orthodoxy) and Summers panders to the right wing by calling the US Constitution a "divinely inspired document" (the divine power providing that inspiration being the kind that approves of slavery and disapproves of giving women the vote), the real campaign will be happening elsewhere.
Expect an unprecedented stream of invective paid for by out-of-state super PACs and aimed at convincing voters that when King was governor, he lacked vision, foresight, and fiscal common sense. In terms of preparing for the future, he displayed the aptitude of the average Mayan.
All of which happens to be true, but none of which will prove to be persuasive, since even the most brainwashed-by-the-media-blitz member of the electorate will discover that whatever faults King has, they pale when compared to those of the alternatives.
In the end, Summers will continue his string of credible second-place finishes, garnering just enough support to delude himself into running for something else in 2014 or 2016. Or on some occasion long after everybody figured he'd learned his lesson. Dill will bluster her way to third place, racking up totals that would embarrass even 2010 Democratic gubernatorial candidate Libby (19 percent) Mitchell. The other independents in the race — there are three of them, including Maine's first openly Goth candidate — will attract the attention of almost no one, although some kindly columnist may take pity on them and make an oblique reference to their pitiful status in the last paragraph of his lengthy analysis explaining why, barring any Mayan intrusions, King has this one in the bag.
My world won't end if you don't email me at aldiamon@herniahill.net. It'll just seem that way.
Topics:
Talking Politics
, Angus King, Charlie Summers, Cynthia Dill, More 
, Angus King, Charlie Summers, Cynthia Dill, Scott D’Amboise, Less 
