Any idiot can be governor.
I’m not saying Republican Governor-elect Paul LePage is such an idiot. But if it turns out he is, it’s comforting to know that it won’t make much difference. There are people already in place in Augusta who are qualified to handle the operation of state government until LePage either figures it out or gets bounced from office in 2014.
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They’re veteran GOP legislators.
They know how the system operates. They understand the pitfalls that await State House newbies. They can make even an idiot in the Blaine House look good. Or, at least, adequate.
But they don’t necessarily have to.
If LePage listens to key legislators in his party, treats them with respect and follows through on their advice, he can probably accomplish much of his agenda of reducing spending and lowering taxes. On the other hand, if he ignores them, denigrates them or attempts to bluster his way through conflicts he doesn’t understand (in other words, if he acts like the late independent Gov. Jim Longley), he’s in for an unproductive four-year term and a rapid return to obscurity.
To date, LePage has relied on his average-guy persona, blunt comments and a marked indifference to the finer points of complex policy matters to win over the Tea Partiers and other disaffected yokels with lots of complaints about government, but no clue how to address them. Now, he needs to get real.
In order to pass even the most routine legislation, the new governor will have to learn to interact with experienced politicians. These pols come equipped with sizable egos and agendas of their own, agendas that may not match up with LePage’s.
Republican stalwarts such as state senators Kevin Raye and Richard Rosen (respectively, the next Senate president and chair of the Appropriations Committee) know that it’s one thing to promise a smaller state government and another to explain to their constituents why there’s no longer a motor vehicles office or an agricultural extension service representative in their district. Cutting state services is as much an exercise in political pragmatism as finances.
Longtime GOP legislators such as state representatives Paul Davis or Robert Nutting (top contenders to be the new speaker of the House) understand that passing bills takes more than motivating the majority party. It also requires fending off the likes of Democratic state Rep. John Martin and his mastery of procedural maneuvers that can turn any bill into roadkill.
This ain’t Waterville City Hall, where LePage claims he learned all about politics. This is a bigger stage, with more adept actors and a lot more stage directions.
Several people familiar with LePage’s thinking have expressed some alarm at his naïve belief that Republicans in the House and Senate will do what he tells them, which – if he had his way – would be to sit down, shut up and vote the way he tells them. Unfortunately for the newly elected governor, life in the State House doesn’t work that way.
Regardless of party affiliation, legislators generally take seriously the constitutional checks and balances among the three branches of government. In practical terms, that means GOP legislators expect to be courted before they’ll support the plans put forth by any governor, even one of their own party. If LePage attempts to issue marching orders, he’ll find himself ignored.
Given the controversial nature of much of the new guv’s platform – gutting the Department of Education, slashing environmental regulations, refusing to follow federal mandates – he’ll need all the cooperation he can get from his partisan allies. But they’ll have to be asked – nicely – rather than commanded. LePage may be able to cow the press corps by threatening to punch out one of its members, but Republicans in the Legislature have too many options at their disposal for thwarting him to be impressed with threats of fisticuffs.
LePage should be reaching out to key GOP legislators, such as budget experts and state representatives Patrick Flood and Kathleen Chase for advice on the two-year state spending plan the governor will have to present in February. If LePage wants to reform the welfare system, he could do worse than consult with state Sen. Deborah Plowman, an experienced hand at dealing with the social services morass. Tax cuts? Better talk to senators Richard Nass and David Trahan before going off half-cocked.
In the House, LePage will have to deal with dozens of new representatives, many of them as ill-prepared to contribute to the debate as himself.
Other than their ability to make rude noises with their armpits.
These novices will probably follow his lead on most issues if he asks politely. But if he comes off as a pompous ass, he may get a fart chorus in response.
A guy who got elected by promising to tell the president of the United States to “go to hell” can’t complain too much about that.
Unless he’s an idiot.
Veteran or novice, I hold your comments sent to aldiamon@herniahill.net in equal esteem.
“To date, LePage has relied on his average-guy persona, blunt comments and a marked indifference to the finer points of complex policy matters to win over the Tea Partiers and other disaffected yokels with lots of complaints about government, but no clue how to address them.”
Read this closely ladies and gentlemen, the Liberal Media thinks your stupid. They believe that you voted for LePage because you dislike government and you really have no answers.
I believe our answer was clear as a bell, the state of Maine is out of control, the public sector has dragged us so far below water we may not be able to recover, and we have rejected the Democratic agenda of big government tax and spend!
Its time to CUT, CUT, and CUT some more!
Break the state employee unions, fix state retirement system, fix our health care system, cut the legislatures benefits, cut the legislature, fix our education system, fix our residency problem, tell the nation and the world that Maine is open for business.
Pepe LePage did not have an mandate. He did not win the majority of votes in this state. He is not prepared to govern and we could have a real problem on our hands. As Al mentioned, we have checks and balances and that will hopefully save this state from the potential problem we’re facing. I, for one, would like to see a run-off system in this state so the elected executive does have a clear majority of support from the voters.
We certainly need to repair our education system if people don’t know the difference between your and you’re. If this is what we’re in for for the next four years, we’ll be in a heap of trouble.
It’s not just the liberal media that thinks we are stupid, it’s also liberals in general. Liberals think cutting spending, and fixing some of the things Hutch mentions above makes one an idiot. These things have to be done.Fortunatly, we threw enough of the dems out of office and elected some people who can clean up the mess they made. It’s not going to be easy, the liberals have had a long time to screw things up, so it might take a few years to drain this swamp.
Anonymous Fan,
Just wondering if you were calling for a run off election when Baldy only received 38%?
my guess is no!
LePage won by almost exactly the same plurality Baldacci got in 2006. That was no mandate either, but the Democrats treated it like one and commenced another four years of spending with little or no accountability – until now. The overwhelming problem we face is not inexperienced conservatives – it’s over-experienced liberals who believe their political power is an entitlement.
Whatever we do to our education system, we’ll never get rid of all the pedantic nit-pickers. They’re (or is it There) as hard to eliminate as cockroaches.
Al, offering suggestions about whom to consult once Paul LePage hits the State House is missing something, although I agree with the basic premise of how different being governor is from being mayor of Waterville. Those are only legislators you suggested—the folks in Augusta, few of whom have proven business savvy and the skills to turn around a moribund Maine economy. He needs to listen to the best and brightest in our state to get new ideas and new models of doing things. Suggestions should include the likes of people who are in the trenches trying to bring businesses to Maine, trying to solve the health insurance company crisis, the people at the top of our largest industry (tourism), educators and social service providers outside of Augusta. Putting together new ways of doing things in Maine will only happen if ideas and concepts outside Augusta are taken seriously. He pledged as much last week, when announcing his transition. Now we all need to get behind him (including journalists who also need to think outside the Augusta box).
Wow, I’m still getting over the notion that Al Diamon is a liberal. After reading what he’s written all these years about wind farms and Governor Baldacci and at least a dozen other topics, I never would have guessed it. I’ve obviously been giving his columns way too much thought.
You can tell on thing about LaPage, he is what he is. There doesn’t seem to be much deception here on his part that ALL the others have done to get voted in.
LePage is not an idiot – he’s a bully. His management style at Mardens allows for no dissent. He proved that when he lost his temper at press conferences because reporters were not properly deferential. I’m sure he was expecting reporters to touch their foreheads, bow and call him effendi.
As for the meme of the “liberal press.” I don’t think so. 3 of the five big dailies in Maine are controlled by a conservative publisher. To his credit, the Press Herald has some liberal columnists, but that’s playing to his readers. In the Sentinel you will not find a Kesich or Nemitz column. I stopped that rag when even the headline writers turned stories favorable to President Obama into Tea Party statements.
Okay Hutch – your turn. LOL
I find it quite funny that liberals are always in search of (CHANGE), except when its not the change that they see fit. Change is exactly what this state needs. Paul is just the man for that job. I believe he is cut from the same or similar cloth as our late president Ronald Reagan. Someone who was willing to stand on his morals and equaly prepared to fall on his sword if his ideas fail. Like him or hate him he will leave no doubt as to where he stands. When Paul speaks People on both sides of the aisles will be compelled to listen.
Wow! He lost his temper. If that’s a sign of a bully, then I’m one and so are most people who post here, if they can be honest for a few seconds. It’s the other way round, Tony. Far from expecting deference, he found it impossible to answer questions honestly when badgered by “journalists” who demanded he deliver the answers they wanted. It’s the reporters who expect deference and, for the most part, have received it for at least sixteen years.
If the “bullying” first impacted newspapers, I hope it will quickly trickle down to the field. Perhaps we’re now beginning to see a long overdue change back to straight reporting instead of peddling ideology.
Yes, LePage is what he is. But that depends on what the meaning of is is. He IS, as Tony points out, a bully and as dumb and inept as G. W. He will be ineffective for lack of tact and protocol. I am embarrased for our state that we now hold him up as our new governor. We are near the bottom of enough statistical measures already without having the least desireable governor in all 50 states to go with it. Now it will take at least another 4 years for us to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps once this dunce is replaced.
The biggest problem we have in this state and country is the liberal vs. conservative environment and the fake media that promotes it. I did not support Baldacci and his 38% win. This is not a right vs. left issue, conservative vs. liberal. We need elected officials who can bring us together by compromising. A run-off in this past election would clearly have involved an independent and a major party candidate. The winner would have a clear mandate from the people. We need to get away from partisan politics and get people in office who represent their constituencies, not some dogma from political party.
Also, before you go bashing the spend-thrift ways of the current state government, notice that the budget in Augusta hasn’t changed for several years. Costs in everything have risen, just go to the store or the gas station. So, while I think Baldacci is a horrible governor, the argument that the gov and the legislature have been on a spending spree just doesn’t make any sense.
“Paul is just the man for that job. I believe he is cut from the same or similar cloth as our late president Ronald Reagan.”
The same Ronald Reagan who presided over the biggest hike in income taxes in the last 50 years, who expanded the federal government, and under whom the national debt exploded? Oh boy. And I thought Paul would cut our taxes, shrink government, and decrease the deficit. Guess I was wrong.
“When Paul speaks People on both sides of the aisles will be compelled to listen.” Or he’ll threaten to punch them.
Viewing the same political back and forth ignores the answer to an important question.
Why do our best and brightest high school graduates leave Maine for “Away”?
Answer: Opportunity.
The solution to solving Maine’s ills is complex.
Maine role models such as Bill Cohen and George Mitchell have left Maine, too.
I do not know if LePage is of the same caliber as these men.
Tough shoes to fill.
I’m sure glad that one (or all) of you bashers did not run and get the job ! ! ! ! ! ! !
What admirable honesty you show, frostproof, in admitting that you are prone to losing your temper on these threads. You *did* get pretty hot n’ bothered that time when I tricked you into outing yourself as a racist, didn’t you?
It appears to me that to to succeed in fixing the problems of Maine the fresh newly elected need to chart their own course. If they fail, then they will be voted out and we will keep doing it until someone gets it right.
The liberals, progressives, socialists, need to shut up, sit back, and give them a chance because they had their turn and failed.
Have any of you seen the great transformation in Waterville?
Hopefully Mr.LePage can do for our fine state what he’s proven to do in Waterville.
He worked well with all parties (Democratic controlled) in Waterville & I believe he will do the same in Augusta.
Give this man a break and give him time to try and fix this states troubles before bashing him already.
Why anyone would even want to get into politics at this time is beyond me.
Our nation is so divided. Let’s take away the R’s, D’s and I’s and form a “We”. We can work together to improve this state!
Union employees might not be so thrilled right now, but my bet is small businesses are breathing a sign of relief.
G-Dspeed Mr.Lepage
I agree with Jeesh.
GOD speed Gov. LePage
As always, reading reactions to Al and reactions to reactions – especially the metaphors – is fun! In this week’s run, “hozhed” claims it may take some time to “drain this swamp,” which, I think inappropriate.
As a backyard naturalist I must rise to the defense of swamps. They are needed elements of our environment, areas rich in diversity and essential habitats for many of our favorite wildlife. Swamps are not bad places -uncomfortable to us perhaps, but not bad. Besides aren’t more than a few of us sometimes characterized as “swamp yankees?”
I think his point might be better served by “it may take some time to change this diaper,” or “it may take some time to muck out this stall,” knowing that further along both will be filled anew by yet more excrement and will need another cleaning.
Ok Paul, point taken. But dont get the wrong idea, I have a 100 acre swamp down next to the back 40. It’s full of every critter there is like you said, and I like it. However, it’s hard to walk around and one cant touch it with anything cause its protected,and it stinks sometimes. Smells like a mix of h2s , the bilge water in Al’s boat ,and low tide stew. It does however drain and rise in relation to the beaver population. Natures way of cleaning out the stall I guess. Too bad our senate and house wasnt the same way, as some people stay in power for decades and we all end up in the situation we are in now. I also think, from a taste standpoint, that swamp donkey’s rule! Have a good day.
And here goes Al with his big spoon again, stirring it up in a fashion that only he can do so well.
Let’s face the facts folks. A good portion of the decisions this state has imposed upon us by past legislative bodies aren’t working well in this economy and it’s the economy that will pose the greatest challenges to our incoming governor, senators and representatives. We have a weak economy, high healthcare costs, a difficult job market contributing to expanding welfare costs, an aging population and our young people are leaving this state to seek opportunity elsewhere. It will take time to turn it around.
With that being said, rather than calling our governor elect an “idiot” or “dumb” (which I do not believe he is) and describing our new representatives and senators as “ill prepared” (which I don’t believe they are) how about we all try the novel idea of encouraging our elected officials to work together for a change. To disregard politics and do as our governor elect, Paul Lepage has vowed to do, put people before government.
We can continue to wallow in the swamps getting nowhere as a couple have mentioned above and we can continue in the “grade school” mentality of name calling but….is that really going to help our state? I don’t think so. I think we would all be better served if we do as mentioned above, encourage our representatives to work together, strive for a more representative form of governing to benefit all and in two years, remember, that WE have the power to renegotiate the contract with our vote.
How do you make Sarah Palin look good? Elect Paul LePage!