“Some people are so upset with Tom Allen . . . that they wouldn’t sign a petition to get his name on the ballot,” says Janet Martin, a Bowdoin College political-science professor who also campaigns for Allen. “Some people are looking for alternative candidates within the Democratic party.” Not only that, but some people said they’d rather not vote at all than vote for either Allen or Collins.

Enter Tom LeDue, the soft-spoken former school administrator from Springvale, who is running for office for the first time in an effort to influence the political dialogue. He supports universal health-care, reinvigorated investment in small and local businesses, and the inclusion of new voices in Washington, DC.

“Our system right now desperately needs people from outside the system,” he says one afternoon in February, before the Democratic caucuses, during which LeDue supporters collected 2300 signatures in 40 towns.

LeDue’s candidacy could have an effect similar to that of the congressional-office sit-ins. By adopting a pro-impeachment and anti-war position (and benefiting from never having had to vote on those issues), LeDue has placed himself to the left of Allen. In turn, Allen’s anti-war stance may seem watered down — and his position as the anti-war answer to Collins’s supposed hawkishness may not be as effective. In other words, where Allen could have spent time courting moderate voters away from Collins, he may now have to worry about maintaining support from his base, as well.

(If LeDue is able to put a thorn in Allen’s side, it wouldn’t be the first time an unknown candidate provided a protest-vote opportunity for Maine’s disillusioned Dems. Recall the 2006 gubernatorial election, when Chris Miller of Gray managed to wrangle almost a quarter of the votes in his primary against John Baldacci.)

Whatever impact LeDue has, Ed Cohen will likely have even less in his primary race against Susan Collins — if he makes it to that point. When asked if he is confident that he’ll be able to collect the 2000 Republican signatures he needs to get on the ballot, he responds: “Sort of. It could happen.” Not exactly an answer to galvanize the political masses.

The former Dennis Kucinich delegate from Waterville, who says he’s running because “I couldn’t get anyone else to do it,” models himself after Ron Paul with regard to taxes (he’s against raising them), foreign policy (he’s against expansionism), and corporate welfare (he’s against it) — but isn’t particularly appreciative of Paul’s campaign organization, at least in Maine. He blasts the state GOP establishment for blindly supporting both Collins and presumptive presidential nominee John McCain. Somehow, in a matter of months, Cohen has managed to estrange himself from both local Ron Paulians and the state Republicans — and perhaps that explains his lack of signature-gathering confidence.

Independent review
Independent candidates Herb Hoffman and Laurie Dobson have an even higher hurdle to clear when it comes to collecting signatures. In order to appear on the ballot next fall, each of them needs 4000 validated signatures from registered voters.

Both Dobson and Hoffman are ardently anti-war, anti-Bush, and pro-impeachment. Dobson garnered some attention for opening her Kennebunkport home to anti-Bush protesters last summer; she got an even bigger boost of fame last month when she called for Kennebunkport selectmen to issue a writ of indictment against the president and vice-president. She’s a bit rough around the edges, despite previous electoral experience (she got 23 percent of the vote when she ran for the Connecticut State Assembly as a Democrat, in 2002), and her political theater has attracted both admirers and naysayers.

Some applaud her pluck (“Ms. Dobson has the courage to speak her convictions,” one commenter said on PolitickerME.com, in response to a story about the indictment); others aren’t so charitable (on a DailyKos.com diary, one commenter asked: “I’m sure that Ms. Dobson is a very nice person, but why are we talking about someone’s vanity run for office?”).

Hoffman, meanwhile, is an Ogunquit psychologist by trade, who served as a state coordinator of Dennis Kucinich’s campaign last year before Kucinich dropped out of the presidential race.

“I feel that I’m more experienced,” Hoffman says of the differences between himself and Dobson. “I’ve demonstrated leadership,” he adds, referring to both his professional and political experience (as a campaigner).

Not to mention the fact that his fledgling campaign has already attracted the support of well-known leftists, such as Maine Lawyers for Democracy president John Kaminski.

As so-called spoilers often do, Hoffman and Dobson are even more likely to benefit from Allen-apathy than is Tom LeDue. Regardless of who wins the Democratic nomination, the independent candidates will be to the left of that winner, and will siphon away votes from those who are disenchanted with the Washington status quo.

“Third party candidates can get five to seven percent just for showing up,” says longtime GOP strategist Chris Potholm, another Bowdoin professor.