It was right out of the theater of the absurd or George Orwell: if certain people say something is true, then it must be true.
That appears to be what the state ethics commission believes.
Barbara Merrill’s independent gubernatorial campaign had complained to the commission that South Portland’s Patricia Eltman, a paid adviser to the national Democratic Governors Association (DGA), a self-proclaimed buddy of Governor John Baldacci, and a longtime Democratic operative, was improperly coordinating the DGA’s work with Baldacci’s re-election campaign. And, the Merrill camp maintained, Eltman was improperly contributing time to his campaign.
But Eltman, the DGA, and the Baldacci campaign denied these charges. That’s all it took, at a Halloween meeting in Augusta, for the commission to unanimously dismiss the complaint.
A lot was riding on this decision by the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices, as it is formally known. Under Maine’s Clean Election law, when an organization like the DGA gives, as it has, hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Maine Democratic Party to buy ads supporting Baldacci, as an independent group it cannot legally be “in cooperation, consultation or concert with” his campaign. If it were, equivalent amounts of money would have to be paid out to Maine’s three publicly financed, Clean Election gubernatorial candidates — Merrill, Green Independent Pat LaMarche, and Republican Chandler Woodcock.
Moreover, if Eltman had been found to have contributed time to the Baldacci campaign, our privately financed governor could have been personally fined for not reporting a contribution way over the $500 limit. Earlier this year, the commission had fined Merrill $10,000 for a reporting snafu.
Not that anyone denied that Eltman gave advice to the governor’s campaign and, to the DGA, about his campaign.
In the case of her advice to Baldacci and to Jesse Connolly, his campaign manager, it was just volunteered, on her own time, both Connolly and she said. As for coordination? She and others on her side said the exchange of information wasn’t coordination. Therefore, it wasn’t.
Gerald Petruccelli, Eltman’s lawyer, went so far as to say, “She is entitled to work day and night for Governor Baldacci.”
Connolly said he “won’t deny” that Eltman is a top political adviser to Baldacci, as well as to him: “We have lunch together quite a few times.”
Commission member Michael Friedman: “Have you discussed the campaign?”
Connolly: “Of course.”
But they were “general conversations,” he said. “We’ve been very clear not to coordinate.”
Though he admitted: “Yes, we have different conversations about issues that come up in any campaign.”
Merrill's complaint was based on a story in the Portland Phoenix, which quotes Eltman as saying she was involved in the DGA’s “consulting services to gubernatorial candidates,” for Baldacci and several other northeastern Democratic hopefuls. The DGA has paid her lobbying firm about $10,000 a month since last summer.
The commission did not pursue a statement by Eltman that “The Democratic governors run the Democratic Governors Association.” Baldacci is one of 22 Democratic governors, and so could be considered an employer, though he is not an officer of the organization.
Two nonlawyers weakly offered Merrill’s argument. James Bowers, her campaign treasurer, declined to make a presentation, although commissioners asked him a few questions. Beryl Leach, her campaign manager, made a brief presentation.
