I've been ignoring the possibility of a third party candidate in Maine for as long as possible. Why? Because I know a third party candidate has some of the perspective I'm looking for in both a leader and politician - balls and vision. Usually they can't win though, and so I try to look the other way knowing that in the end I'll be both voting for and against one of the two major party candidates. In the case of Maine's gubernatorial, two things have made this strategy crumble: the utter ineptitude of Libby Mitchell's campaign and the very real possibility that we will wake up on November 3rd with Paul LePage in the Blaine House. Scary on both counts.
Eliot Cutler has always been there, fuzzy, in the background. The first push to the front was the incessant internet advertising. Then came the rising poll numbers, steady over the past month, all the way up to last week's Critical Insights poll putting him dead even with Libby Mitchell. And both well behind Paul LePage.
There's some earth moving in Maine this week. Momentum, once on the side of the underdog, cannot be stopped. A third party candidate needs believability and last week's poll gave Cutler just that.
But that's not the only thing! Do you know what else gave Cutler some believability this week? The Maine Democratic Party mailer tying "China's Lobbyist" Eliot Cutler to the loss of Maine jobs to overseas labor markets, most notably, China. On this mailer we have juicy quotes like "Maine jobs could go to China" and "As recently as this summer, while running for Governor, Cutler welcomed to Maine a group of Chinese businessman promoting Chinese involvement in our economy." What does that even mean? This mailer is a pathetic jumble of "China" sentences and a photo of Eliot Cutler. If it came from LePage's campaign it would be one thing; into the recycling bin it goes.
But because it came from the state Democratic Party I immediately think two things:
1. Eliot Cutler is a contender.
2. I should look into Eliot Cutler because this mailer manages to be both offensive (really, fortune cookies?) and wildly impertinent (really, isn't this election about job creation?).
And suddenly, Mainers, we have a three horse race.
Hey, good post. I felt the same way about Cutler. If he breaks and has a real three way shot I might be willing to give him a try but if not, I worry a vote for Cutler is a vote for LePage.
ReplyDeleteThis is why more districts are looking at preferential voting which allows you to choose a second. If there's no majority in a three way race, then the second choices are used to determine the winner.