October 28, 2012

U.S. Senate race: Summers' previous losses don't stop quest for Congress

Defeated in three bids for the House, the Republican candidate believes his experiences in the military and as secretary of state will make the difference this time.

By Colin Woodard cwoodard@pressherald.com
Staff Writer

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BALANCING MILITARY AND PUBLIC SERVICE

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, Summers' public affairs unit would be repeatedly activated. Two months after an airplane struck the Pentagon, Summers was working in the building that houses the office of the Navy secretary. From July 2007 to May 2008, he was deployed to Iraq as part of the Multinational Forces Iraq Strategic Effects Directorate. From October 2009 to October 2010, he served on the staff of Adm. Mike Mullen, then chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The deployments complicated his professional and political careers, causing him to drop one job and, later, to try to run for Congress while in Baghdad.

He stepped down from Snowe's office to make a second run for Congress in 2004. He won the primary, but lost the general election to incumbent Rep. Tom Allen by 20 points.

In the aftermath of the election, Snowe backed Summers' successful application to become the Small Business Administration's New England regional administrator.

While there, Summers expressed support for George W. Bush's tax cuts, which he said gave small businesses resources to invest in new equipment. He also argued that the biggest challenge facing the region's small businesses was the high cost of health care, and said he would work to expand coverage.

"It was a fun job because you could measure what you were doing. If you helped person X get an SBA loan, you saw their business being opened and you could drive by and see the progress," Summers says. "It wasn't abstract."

He resigned from the administration in June 2007 after his Reserve unit was again called up and deployed to Baghdad's Green Zone. Although heavily fortified against ground attack, the area was subjected to rocket and mortar attacks from surrounding neighborhoods. The attacks were especially nerve-wracking when they occurred at night, when Summers was sleeping in their metal two-man residential trailer -- or "hooch" -- which would offer no protection from a direct hit.

His roommate, Michael Street of Kileen, Texas, recalls Summers being cool under fire.

"One of the things that struck me about him as a fellow Christian is that he is a man of faith," he says. "You could tell people who have it and people who don't. When the rockets start falling and the stress levels go up, he was consistent, never shaken, never too wound up by anything."

Street was also struck by Summers' sociability. "He's never met a stranger, and it was pretty funny watching him interact with the troops," he recalls. "We had Peruvians and Ugandans and Italians and Australians, and Charlie just had a way of connecting with everyone and from every walk of life. It was pretty cool to watch him lighten people's day.

"Charlie's not the sort of guy who wants to alienate one group or another," adds Street, who later came to Maine to campaign for Summers. "He's a guy you love to be around and who loves the state of Maine."

Before leaving for Iraq, Summers had launched a third bid for Congress, but was prohibited by federal law from campaigning until he returned stateside. He has said that Ruth convinced him not to drop out, and she ran his campaign in his absence. He won the primary, but ultimately lost to Pingree 55-45.

In the 2008 campaign, Summers emphasized the need to encourage alternative energy development and to exploit domestic oil reserves. He supported a $10,000 tax credit for those purchasing hybrid vehicles and called for a federal effort to achieve energy independence comparable to the Apollo program. "The sooner we're off foreign oil, the better we'll be," he told reporters.

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