The Colby Echo

Issue date: 10/12/07 Section: Features

Media Credit: Courtesy of Mark Martin Adam Cote '95 with children in Iraq.

Media Credit: Courtesy of Mark Martin Adam Cote spending quality time with constituents in his homestate of Maine.

A perusal of Adam Cote '95's resume makes it initially difficult to ascertain what he does for a living. During his time on Mayflower Hill, he was a varsity football and baseball player, president of the debate team and an occasional participant in student theater productions. Upon graduating, he worked as a substitute teacher in Florida and briefly pursued acting-he even landed a role in a Nike commercial that aired during halftime of the Super Bowl. After joining the Army Reserve, he served for a year in Bosnia, before returning to Maine to attend the University of Maine Law School. He received his law degree cum laude in 2001 and began work at Pierce Atwood LLP in Portland, where he remained until being militarily reactivated in 2004, spending that year in Iraq. Cote has been back in Maine since 2005, just long enough to add a new and exciting addendum to his resume: 2007 candidate for the United States Congress.

Despite Cote's many diverse interests, running for political office was not something that had occurred to him before the last few years. But when he returned from his service in Iraq, several people approached him independently to suggest just that. Among his supporters is Goldfarb Family Distinguished Professor of American Government G. Cal Mackenzie. Advocating the need for a greater number of war veterans with real world experience to run for office, Mackenzie immediately thought of Cote, and contacted him to encourage a Congressional bid.

For a recent war veteran like Cote readjusting to life back home, the suggestions could not have come at a more appropriate time. "Quite frankly, I was frustrated in Iraq with some of the mind-numbingly poor decisions being made in D.C.," he said of deciding to run for office. If elected, Cote will be one of only two Iraq War veterans in Congress. "I realized that what we need is people [in government] who ask the right questions and provide the right leadership, not because they read it or learned how to do it somewhere but because they lived it, first hand."

Though he feels confident in his capabilities and passionate about his convictions, committing to the campaign trail was something that Cote "thought about, really hard" for a while. "When you stick yourself out there in the public eye, people think of you differently. They suddenly see you as a politician, regardless of whatever you were before, and I am very leery of that label," he said. The father of three young daughters discussed his potential candidacy with his wife and family, and with their support announced his candidacy for the First Congressional District of Maine last May. "I love my family, my state, my country, and I'm concerned about where that's all heading. To the extent that I can try to lend my voice and change that, I want to be a part of it," he said.

From the get-go, Cote has been a political newcomer whom most people see as this election's alternative candidate. On paper, "most people think I have the best resume," he admitted. "But what [critics] wondered was: could I raise enough money and get organized to get my message out there?" To date, Cote's campaign answers that question with an emphatic "Yes." By June, Cote announced that his congressional campaign had exceeded its first fundraising goal. Just this month, the Congressional Quarterly predicted that Cote and Chellie Pingree, former Maine Senate Majority Leader and fellow Democratic candidate, would compose the final contest out of the five candidates running. "It's way too early to tell," Cote warned. But he still saw the predictions as a success, since "four or five months ago, no one even knew who I was."

Cote is foreseen as an alternative candidate, who will be able to capitalize on votes from a demographic fed up with partisan politics and career politicians. "There are some admirable people [in government] right now, but what we need are fresh ideas, and [candidates] who have something new to bring to the table."

Two of Cote's more personal platforms are the War in Iraq and alternative energy. During his tour of Iraq from 2004-05, Cote served as a National Guard platoon leader with an engineering batallion. His platoon worked primarily on reconstructive efforts, rebuilding schools, churches and hospitals that had been damaged or destroyed by warfare. He founded a popular "adopt-an-Iraqi Village" program, by which donors in the states could "adopt" a village on-line and send its members much-needed food and supplies. The program received over 1,600 packages from Maine residents alone.

Cote's efforts in Iraq were not his first foray into charitable work, as he also founded a "Toys for Tots" chapter and volunteered to teach high school English during his time in Bosnia in 1997-98. Though Cote had a positive influence in both countries, his time spent serving in the military abroad was certainly not without peril. On December 21, 2004, Cote was in the mess hall on the U.S. base in Mosul, Iraq when a suicide bomber detonated himself, killing or wounding over one hundred soldiers and civilians. For his leadership during the attack, Cote was awarded an Army Commendation Medal.

While working for Pierce-Atwood, Cote spent considerable time on renewable energy legislature. His work took him back to Bosnia and many other countries, such as Albania and Croatia, to help the governments there manage their resources more efficiently. If elected to office in Maine, he plans on spearheading a renewable energy plan "to counteract our extreme reliance as a country on foreign oil, which has been bad for both the environment and foreign policy," he stated.

As the preliminary elections this spring draw nearer and his campaign intensifies, Cote exudes the same vigor and enthusiasm that he brought to his many interests pre-political life. He reminisces fondly of his time spent on Mayflower Hill, and is quick to offer advice for current students, whatever their interests. "Don't panic if you don't know what you want to do with your life just yet," he said. "Do something that interests you, rather than something that positions you for career advancement. There's something to be said for doing something you are passionate about." This is sound advice indeed coming from a Colby graduate who has spent time as a teacher, athlete, soldier, actor, lawyer and potential member of the United States Congress.

For more information on Adam Cote, his campaign, and volunteer/internship opportunities, visit www.adamcote.com.

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