Tougher than the rest BY AL DIAMON

There are big differences between political parties and street gangs. For one thing, gang members wear way cooler clothes. Also, gangs have clear goals and efficient methods of achieving them.

But there are also similarities. Both posses and pols share elaborate initiation rituals. A wanna-be gangsta has to beat up some poor sucker in a street fight. A fledgling pol has to do the same in a primary election. Both groups sport identifying symbols called "colors." For a gang member, it might be a do-rag or a cap. For a politician, it’s red state or blue state. Finally, each member, whether legislator or leg-breaker, swears allegiance to a leader called the mack daddy, the godfather, or the governor.

The chief gangbanger deals with disobedience by redistributing the bodily parts of suspected insurgents over the surrounding countryside. The chief executive prefers a more subtle approach, such as reassigning traitorous legislators to the Joint Standing Committee on Bathroom Fixtures. Punk and pol leaders who hesitate to employ these methods run the risk of being Jimmy Hoffa-ed or Jimmy Carter-ed out of office.

Which brings us to Democratic Governor John Baldacci. Maybe it’s the bad hair, the boring suits, the speaking style that renders listeners unconscious faster than a sap to the skull. But Baldacci is sometimes perceived as a wimp, who can be pushed around by Dems who don’t like his direction. For instance, a recent Portland Phoenix article claimed the governor was facing "a High Noon showdown" with legislative liberals. According to the story, the left wing of the donkey gang is furious because of Baldacci’s "eagerness to slash services to balance the spectacularly creaking and groaning state budget while he refuses to consider a tax hike as an alternative."

The rebels are led by the likes of Portland state Senator Ethan Strimling, Portland state Representative Herb Adams and Biddeford state Representative Joanne Twomey, marginal figures in the Dems’ legislative caucus, who come to this fight armed with little more than sharp words.

By comparison, the governor is Mr. Gun-To-A-Knife-Fight. He doesn’t do a lot of trash talking (which saves the state a considerable sum on narcolepsy treatments), but he’s demonstrated a remarkable ability to put the hurt on his enemies. Consider these examples.

During the debate over Baldacci’s tax-relief bill in January, the Maine County Commissioners Association voted by a wide margin to introduce an amendment to exempt county jails from the governor’s spending cap. Within 24 hours of the vote, Baldacci had convinced a majority of the commissioners to switch sides. The fact that the association’s president is Peter Baldacci, the governor’s brother, probably didn’t hinder the shift.

The justification given to commissioners for backing down was that their amendment would annoy key legislators, who were scheduled to consider other association-supported bills later in the session. Paul Hatch, a Somerset County commissioner and former state representative, dismissed that argument in an email to the association as "totally fabricated crap."

Effective crap, though. The amendment was never introduced.

Another example: Several business groups put together an ad campaign to highlight problems with the state economy. One spot compared Maine’s taxes with New Hampshire’s. "It should come as no surprise, then, that Maine ranks 49th in the nation for small business survivability," the ad copy read, "while New Hampshire ranks sixth." A second spot discussed the business climate: "If we’re going to compete, we need to shrink government spending at all levels, lower our overall tax burden, and reduce regulatory costs." A third ad suggested regionalizing municipal programs: "If the costly way we deliver local government services doesn’t change, no amount of state aid will ever be enough."

Baldacci found out about the campaign and went ballistic. He sent his minions, including super-lobbyist Severin Beliveau, to tell the business gangs the governor considered the ads an attempt to undermine his re-election. Those helping to finance the spots could not expect his support in fending off new taxes or regulations on their industries.

At this writing, none of the ads has aired, and the group’s Web site (www.campaignformaine.com) is "off-line for maintenance."

Some media observers have intimated that Baldacci’s failure to win legislative approval for Sunday hunting exposed his weakness. Those critics failed to recognize that all the governor wanted out of the proposal was increased license fees from sportsmen. He’ll get that without having to fire a shot on any day of the week.

More predictions: 1. Baldacci’s budget will pass with most of the cuts in place and none of the tax hikes sought by liberal insurgents. 2. Strimling and his homies will need DNA testing to figure out who owns which fingers, toes, and other assorted bits of anatomy found scattered around Augusta.

Put me streetwise by emailing ishmaelia@gwi.net