On to November!!!
The primaries are over and we have our nominee, Libby Mitchell, a strong candidate for the general election. However, if she is to win, it will require all of our efforts. It’s easy to be lulled into a sense of security that the Republicans have nominated an extreme right wing candidate, Paul LePage, who apparently had the bulk of tea party support. While we can be comforted by the fact that his desire to teach creationism in the schools and denial of global warming are out of the mainstream, he clearly tapped into something alive in the electorate, concerns about taxes and spending. This was most clearly demonstrated by how Question 1 was framed and the strong vote to repeal the tax reform law. LePage will run on these issues in the fall, which will resonate with a significant group of voters. He also has the advantage that conservatives and tea partiers seem much more motivated to vote this year.
There’s also a possibly greater threat to Libby, the independent candidate Eliot Cutler. We saw Peter Mills begin the narrative last night that many will hope to carry into November, and that is that Libby is as extreme on the left as LePage is on the right, leaving only the independent choice in the middle. We need to be very clear and work hard to dispel the notion that there’s anything radical about Libby Mitchell. She represents the best of the Democratic Party, a smart, hard-working legislator and leader, who understands how to make government work for the people, as opposed to “getting government out of people’s lives,” which translates to getting out of the way of corporations and the rich. This will be a tough race, but eminently winnable if we all work hard in the fall.
Reid Scher, Chairperson
Ron Bilancia Said,
June 13, 2010 @ 7:11 pm
I’m the Brewer Dems Vice Chair. Nice message, but the only thing is that we need to begin working hard RIGHT NOW and not “in the fall.” That means house parties, letters to the editor, phone banking, lit dropping, and having our candidate all over this state at the grassroots north south east and west. Mr. LePage is a right wing extremist, and that narrative has to be played hard. Cutler is saying he wants to look at closing some of the U-Maine campuses. Libby has to continue to tout that she has voted for deep cuts, worked with R’s to balance budgets without raising taxes, and that she is generally opposed to tax increases (all of which she is saying now, but KEEP saying it). She also has to say she supports hunting rights which resonates well especially in the second district. She also has to take the Republicans to task on extreme additional spending cuts given that we’ve already cut $800,000,000. Make them get specific instead of all this talk in generalities which they are so good at. Finally, she needs to talk JOBS JOBS JOBS and how she will be different than Baldacci. If we lock down the Dem base, target the female vote, and effectively tag LePage as the extremist that he is, then that will split the “conservative-leaning change vote” between LePage and Cutler, and Libby, holding her base, can win. We have to work hard and damn smart starting YESTERDAY.
Louis T. Sigel Said,
June 14, 2010 @ 3:27 am
The point is that Libby needs to start NOW to define herself as the moderate that she is and NOT allow herself to be painted as the extreme from the left that she is NOT. Yes, Libby wants to make government work, but private businesses, especially small and medium-sized businesses create jobs. Government is NOT the answer, but government plays the key role in developing the appropriate framework and environment for businesses to develop.Libby opposed Rosa’s idea for a state bank, and Libby opposes Eliot Cutler’s idea of a Maine Energy Resources corporation to provide low-cost energy.There was NOT a big ideological difference between the Democratic candidates, so it is ridiculous for the media, and especially Richard Connor to punce with this argument about the Democrats having chosen their left extreme candidate.