Possible Germain Campaign Slogans

First of all, I should point out that I have never met Councilor Mike Germain, and, as far as I know, he has no idea who I am. (I believe if he did, I would have the restraining order to prove it.)

Lately, I’ve been a bit concerned that Germain might not be seeking re-election in 2011. I mean, he’s talking taxes, and this time, they’re not for college students.

Heck, someone even commented on this letter that “Germain paraded as a friend of working class when he is anything but. Germain is an enemy of all those who struggle to pay their bills and put food on the table.”  (Now, I don’t remember Germain parading as anything, otherwise you know I would have been there!)

What I like about Mike Germain is that he’s not operating from a political playbook that makes any sort of sense, and yet he’s gotten elected as an at-large councilor twice.  I mean, this is a guy who barely had any lawn signs up, has no web presence whatsoever, and neither is a visionary nor gives the people what they want, and he’s on the City Council!

Every once in a while, he takes an impassioned stand on something that at least half the population is absolutely in opposition to.  I can never tell exactly who he’s trying to appeal to, or even what kind of voter he appeals to, or if he actually has any friends on the Council.  (I was on the phone with Kate Toomey once and told her that Germain was my favorite councilor, and there was silence on the other end of the line for a few seconds.  Perhaps it was just a bad connection.)

I hesitate to use the word “maverick”, because that would actually imply that there’s something that he’s fighting against.  It’s more like he takes a pile of papers from his desk, tosses them in the air, and whatever reaches the floor first becomes his cause du jour.  At one point, he ran on some sort of parks-and-rec platform, but these days, he seems to be more of a “save the public schools” kind of guy.  Maybe there’s a Magic 8 Ball involved?  Who knows?

Perhaps I shouldn’t be worried about Germain — after all, the electorate complained about the raises the City Council gave themselves, and then voted them back into office.  I suspect that somewhere in that head is a calculating political genius.  But just in case there isn’t, may I recommend some campaign slogans?

Mike Germain: Not Nearly As Bad As You Thought He’d Be!
Mike Germain: Sometimes He’s Right on the Issues You Care About!
Mike Germain: Give Blood, Play Hockey!
Mike Germain: No Less Effective than Any Other City Councilor!
Mike Germain: There’s No “E” at the End of My Last Name!

The last is my personal favorite, especially since he’s listed in the Office of Campaign and Political Finance with an ‘e’ at the end of his last name.