What a difference a day makes.
Members of Maine’s Democratic Party are breathing a collective sigh of relief today after learning that Biddeford City Councilor Bobby Mills has returned to the fold as a solid Democrat.
For those of you playing at home, yesterday Mills announced that he was leaving the Democratic Party and his Primary challenge against incumbent Democrat State Rep. Megan Rochelo for the District 136 seat.
On his campaign Facebook page, Mills lamented that he is “too conservative for the Democrats and too liberal for the Republicans,” thus he was filing as an independent candidate — in the neighboring District 135.
That announcement followed on the heels of Mills’ decision to buy a new home.
But today Mills learned that his new home is, in fact, still part of District 136. So, of course, he is back to being a full-blooded Democrat, no different than FDR, Ted Kennedy or Joe Brennan….solid donkey all the way.
Apparently, a 2003 error at the Biddeford City Clerk’s office caused Mills and several others to believe a portion of Green Street (where his new home is located) was actually part of District 135, where former state representative and mayor Joanne Twomey is planning a Primary challenge against incumbent Paulette Beaudoin.
It’s been a tough couple of years for Maine’s Democrats. In 2010, their party lost control of both the Maine House and Senate. Libby Mitchell, the Democratic nominee for the Blaine House, got smoked by Independent Eliot Cutler, who got smoked by Republican Paul LePage.
Then, when Republican Senator Olympia Snowe surprised everyone with the news that she would not seek re-election, a few Democrats poked their heads out of their caves and briefly considered a run…right up until Independent and former governor Angus King announced he was running and most of the Democrats went back into hiding.
It’s a rebuilding year for Maine’s Democrats, but at least they did not lose Bobby Mills.
“It would have been catastrophic for us,” said one party insider who asked to remain anonymous. “Bobby is a real party stalwart. Losing him would have been the nail in the coffin for us. I mean, really…our morale is so low…the only candidates we can throw at the Senate race are Cynthia Dill, Matt Dunlap and John Hinck. It’s not like we have a deep bench.”
The source declined to comment on growing speculation that Mills could be drafted by the Democratic Party to make a run for either Snowe’s senate seat or possibly challenge President Barack Obama in the primary.
“He (Mills) is a solid guy,” the source said. “When push comes to shove, we know we can count on him when the going gets tough.”
LESSONS IN MEDIOCRITY 
So is this a fair media outlet? I post a response to these inaccurate statements and they are removed. What’s up Randy? I thought you believed in fairness. Sounds like Bodwellness.
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Bob: I never saw any comments from you. Please resend, and they will be posted. Thank you
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Ken, you are full of misinformation. I, along with Fred Staples, spoke at a Libertarian Convention in 2007. We spoke as a Dem and Rep, on how differing parties can work together and get things done. And how they get involved in government. That is why the Libs list me as one of their own, because I took the time to speak at their convention when no one else from the Dem party acknowledged their invite. I am honored to be endorsed by them. People like you in the party make me annoyed.
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I have always been a Democrat with an independent flair. Yes, I am too conservative for the State Dems, that is why they always fear me. Once elected, don’t expect me to salivate over leadership nominees. I know who is real and whom is not. It’s a damn shame that Dems can’t differ over platform issues without being shunned.
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The reason Bobby’s bio was removed from the Saco Bay Dems website was because of this comment he posted on his Facebook page on April 30th:
“Effective today, I am un-enrolling from the Democratic Party. I am officially an Independent and considering a Indy bid for House District 135. Since I am too Conservative for the Dems and too Liberal for the Republicans.”
He was the one who stated that he was “un-enrolling from the Democratic Party” and is “officially an Independent”. To us, “officially” means done deal and being an Independent made him ineligible to be listed as a candidate on our website. As such I removed him on May 1st.
Had Bobby made a simple statement about his move making him ineligible to run for HD136 so he was considering a run as an Independent for HD135, without making grand statements about being “too conservative for the Dems.” and being “officially an Independent” there would have been less resistance to putting him back on the Saco Bay Dems candidates page. He didn’t help his cause when he sent me an email on May 6th demanding to know why we had removed him from our candidates page and falsely accusing his opponent of passing us wrong information.
Of all people Bobby should know that actions have consequences and grandstanding by declaring that he was “un-enrolling from the Democratic Party” and is “officially an Independent” because he is “too conservative for the Dems” has consequences.
It also doesn’t help his cause about being a loyal lifelong Democrat to have the Libertarian Party claim him as one of their own (http://www.lp.org/states/Maine) nor does his attempted run for Governor in 2006 as an Independent against Democratic Governor Baldacci.
These are not the hallmarks of a reliably solid Democrat.
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While I happen to like Mr. Mills and have respect for him – I am finding it hard to get past the action to denounce his affiliation with the Democratic Party and then claim that he had been “saved” and would run as an Independent. Of course, anyone can reserve the right to change their beliefs, but to return to the Dems once it was clarified that he was still in District 136 seems really disingenuous. If he really felt that he was “too conservative for the Democrats and too liberal for the Republicans”, then why not still run as an Independent in District 136? It’s very disconcerting to see this turn of events. Not something many of us would have expected.
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Funny Randy…
I can’t support any candidate that flip flops.
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