In Bangor, businessman John McKinnon had little hope there would be reform. They want credit for reform, but they also want the money. I guess I'm just part of the apathy. In a way, this is not surprising, said Paul Nordstrom, president of the University of Maine at Machias. Maine tends to place more confidence in local solutions than in answers from Washington, he said.
People figure the bigger it gets, the more difficult it is to control.
But without a push from reform-minded states like Maine, the Governmental Affairs Committee has little hope of stirring the country with its hearings unless they produce more compelling revelations when they resume early next month. Nor can reformers continue to rely on the hearings to create a public groundswell for passage of their legislation, which could face a critical test shortly in the Senate. Hardly any of the people Collins met during her two-day swing mentioned the hearings, except to comment favorably on the fact that she had gained some national recognition in her first few months in office. But wherever I go, people mention campaign finance and say I'm doing a good job. For 45 minutes, the group hashed over a variety of subjects of local interest, such as the effect of foreign competition on the timber industry and drought damage to the blueberry harvest.