There is an immense amount of uninformed speculation floating around regarding Maine Independent Senate candidate Angus King's connection to the Democratic Party and the likelihood of his declaring in advance an intention to caucus with the D's come January. But It isn't like he's the man who fell to earth; we have many years of campaigning and governance to inform us of his partisan tendencies, which we will examine below the fold.
Undeniably, if we venture back far enough, we find a rather conventional Democrat. Governor King's first appearance in the political record was just 40 years ago when he moved his then young family into the old Lafayette Hotel in Portland to join the Senate campaign staff of Democratic Congressman William Hathaway. When Hathaway narrowly prevailed to deny the legendary Margaret Chase Smith a 5th term, he took King to Washington as a staffer. Steve Karnicki reports in Salon.com that, even back then, Hathaway found "King didn’t quite share his liberalism". King returned to Maine well before the end of Hathaway's single term, to pursue a career in private and corporate law, but never without political overtones.
Over the next couple of decades, King spent time lobbying the legislature on environmental issues, held down a long-term gig as host of Maine Public Broadcasting's flagship public affairs show, and made a brief, abortive move for a Democratic congressional nomination which drew notice only when he called a press conference to end it. In 1992 he signed on to Massachusetts Senator Paul Tsongas's presidential campaign and, through him, the Concord Coalition, a bi-partisan group dedicated to the eradication of federal deficit spending.
Two years later, King announced his Independent run for Governor, with a socially liberal and fiscally conservative message which closely resembled Tsongas's national appeal. Three elements were critical to his success:
1. He was able to substantially self fund. The sale of his successful energy conservation business left him with a pool of ready cash to insure he was not outspent.
2. Maine is extremely Independent-friendly. Maine may well be the only state with a significant Independent base. Any remotely viable Independent candidate can count on 10-15% support out of the gate. The last 6 governors break 2R/2D/2I.
3. The opposition was weak. The Republicans conducted a lunatic 8-way primary with nobody gaining any real traction. Then little-known Susan Collins finished first with 22% of the vote thanks to her former boss, Sen. William Cohen's robust state-wide organization. Meanwhile the Democrats elevated old warhorse Joseph Brennan for his 5th gubernatorial campaign in 20 years (Loss, Win, Win, Loss, Loss).
Those factors were enough carry King into a near tie with Brennan, the Democratic candidate by election day, but not into the lead. That took an unexpectedly strong showing by Jonathan Carter, the often overlooked Green candidate. Practically invisible in the polls, Carter took over 6% of the vote state-wide and a decisive 10% out of Brennan's stronghold in the city of Portland.
Although Brennan didn't concede until the next day, King went to Augusta as an Independent governor, facing a narrowly divided legislature. The House retained the Democratic majority it had held since 1974, but only by 3 seats, a margin that began to erode almost immediately and had disappeared by mid-term. Meanwhile the Senate went Republican by a single seat (and that by way of two recount wins, one with a four vote margin).
Given that the legislative agenda was overwhelmingly fiscal rather than social in nature, and given that King's campaign had emphasized fiscal restraint, there was a real opportunity for the Senate R's to align with him and advance their stated goals. Never happened. Maybe it was the reflection of Newt, then taking the Congressional Speaker's rostrum in an orgy of Republican tub thumping; maybe it was the shadow of Rush, then at the peak of his powers and foaming in a conservative frenzy, but new Senate President Jeff Butland rejected any alliance with an infidel Independent. The Senate R's became the permanent opposition. King found productive, if frequently uncomfortable, common cause with the House D's through his first two years.
The 1996 election saw the Republicans lose control of the Senate and would not fully control a house of the Maine Legislature again until 2011. By 1997, King and the legislative Democrats had settled into a partnership which would generally persist through the remaining 6 years of his administration. Republicans spent those years fulminating against the King Democratic lean which they themselves had midwifed.
Angus will go to Washington uncommitted, prepared to work with whichever party is the more reasonable and open-minded. The chance of that being the Republicans is infinitesimal.