Michaud Finds New Home, New Role in D.C.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 20, 2002–It was lucky number 39 for Democratic Rep.-elect Michael H. Michaud as he joined other House freshmen for the office lottery drawing Thursday morning. Armed with floor plans and a long list of soon-to-be vacated offices, Michaud combed through the Cannon House Office Building for the perfect office with his chief of staff, Peter Chandler.
“Peter, this would be a nice chief of staff’s office!” Michaud joked as he and Chandler peeked into a storage cage room across from one of the potential office spaces.
“Do you think my cell phone won’t work in there? Because if it doesn’t, I’ll go sit in there,” Chandler deadpanned.
Michaud ended up with Room 437 in the Cannon Building.
Michaud was immersed into his second week of freshman orientation at the Capitol, and there was much to be done, especially when it came to technology. Every member has at least one cell phone and a hand-held gadget called a BlackBerry. Michaud, who had never used a BlackBerry before, described it as an “e-mail type system that vibrates” as he punched various keys.
“They throw so much at you the first week with meetings and dinners with party leaders,” Michaud said. “It’s overwhelming.”
Michaud, who is single and has no children, is still searching for a place to live that is a close walk to work on Capitol Hill, but he said that rent is “a lot more than what I am used to in Maine.”
Despite the heavy reading material, meetings and long days, he remains bright-eyed and energized, like a college freshman settling into a new life, an exciting home-away-from-home.
Michaud does his best to absorb all that is around him. He introduces himself with a “How’ya doin’? I’m Mike Michaud from Maine” and offers a firm handshake and smile to almost everyone he encounters, even if only for a brief introduction.
Michaud, 46, will start his term in the 108th Congress on Jan. 7, but he is no stranger to the art of lawmaking. He spent 22 years as a state lawmaker, and he also has served as Senate president pro tem.
“There is a lot to do to get Maine moving forward,” Michaud said.
Politics was not always on Michaud’s career radar. After graduating from Schenck High School in 1973, he recalled with a smile, “If you asked me if I would have a career in politics, I’d say, ‘You’re crazy!’ ” But he decided to run for state legislature in 1980 because of a pollution problem in the Penobscot River, and he never looked back.
Michaud is a wealth of information when it comes to Maine’s issues. He carefully explains topics ranging from health care and education to the job market and the struggling economy.
He hopes to become a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, like his Democratic predecessor, Gov.-elect John E. Baldacci. Regardless of committee assignments, Michaud said, “no matter where I am placed, there is so much to do for the 2nd District.”
Michaud is particularly concerned with fair-trade issues, especially with the closing of the C.F. Hathaway Co. shirt factory earlier this fall.
“Maine has finite resources, and there’s only so much we can do on a state level,” Michaud said. “Over 22, 357 manufacturing jobs have been lost, and part of that has to do with federal trade policies.”
Michaud has a difficult road ahead of him with Republicans controlling both the House and the Senate, but he remains enthusiastic.
“I would have loved to have been in the majority in the House,” he said. “But in the 22 years I was in the state legislature, I was in the minority twice, and that didn’t stop me from getting things done.”
In the meantime, Michaud will focus on settling into his new digs in the Capitol. But Maine is never far from his mind.
“I’ll be trekking back quite often,” he smiled. “I’ll be hoppin’ on a plane and getting home.”
Published in The Kennebec Journal and The Morning Sentinel, in Maine.
