Summers takes on 30 odd jobs during campaign

MINNEAPOLIS -- First Congressional District candidate Charlie Summers (R-Scarborough) will pick up a few new skills along the campaign trail.

His campaign launched a “30 jobs in 30 days” program last week, in which Summers will work in one job a day to both connect with Mainers and highlight how the high cost of energy is affecting all walks of life.

Since the primary, the Summers campaign has been relatively quiet. There has been a lot of fundraising and administrative work, Summers said, and he has appeared at a lot of parades and festivals.

His campaign headquarters on Exchange Street in Portland will officially open Saturday. This week he is at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis.

In his jobs program, so far he has picked beans, picked corn and driven a skidder. He plans to clean bar glasses at Gritty McDuff’s, shovel lobster bait and work as a hotel housekeeper.

Summers said he is working the various jobs to experience what Mainers do on a day to day basis, and also to showcase the snowballing effects that high energy costs have on people’s daily lives.

The campaign is taping Summers on the various jobs, and will release the videos in the near future.

“It’s really to do something to highlight hardworking people,” Summers said.