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MIKE TIPPING: Democrats, Republicans agree about lack of legislative focus

Mike Tipping

Two weeks ago, Democrats in the Maine House and Senate held a press conference to express their dissatisfaction with the first 100 days of Paul LePage's governorship.

While they announced disappointment with and opposition to the policies pursued by the governor and Republicans in the Legislature, the main point of the event was taking the governor and his allies to task for a lack of focus and a lack of seriousness, especially on economic issues.

The Dems didn't announce many policy proposals of their own, beyond a statement of support for a bond package to invest in transportation and infrastructure and a general acknowledgement of the need to improve health care coverage, help struggling small businesses, and reduce the debt burden on Maine students.

We heard even less about policy in the Republicans' response to the event, and in the news coverage that followed.

This was by design. GOP leaders playing defense did a great job pivoting on the issue and attempting to put the focus on politics instead. They'd much rather talk about the last election than the current session, and so echoed the arguments that worked for them in 2010 -- that Democrats hurt the state's business climate during their tenure in power and that it's time for a change.

I'm not sure how this addresses the Democrats' charge that the LePage administration has focused on distractions rather than real issues, but it is a good general argument. The 100-day mark of complete Republican control of the Legislature and the governorship may be the last time they can credibly make it, however, so I'm glad they're getting it out of their system.

Legislative Republicans even managed to downplay LePage's caustic comments and strange actions over his first 100 days, insisting that he had apologized to them, been properly chastened by the public letter signed by eight Republican senators asking him to shape up, and would be putting the past behind him.

"When he left (for vacation), he left with a plan, and he's sticking with a plan that we put forward," said Assistant Senate Majority Leader Debra Plowman to a group of reporters. "We've 'turned the page' and we're working with him, he's working with us and we're ready to move things along."

LePage's staff said the governor would not comment on the 100-day milestone and would instead focus on all the work he has to do.

Then, in an interview later that day and during a speech before the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce the next, LePage blew up the Republicans' arguments and put lie to the words of his own staff.

Quoted in the Bangor Daily News and the Lewiston Sun Journal, LePage announced that rather than working hard, he actually had "nothing to do" and agreed with the Democrats that nothing had been accomplished in his first 100 days.

Rather than echo Plowman's words about a new rededication to working with his Republican allies in the Legislature, LePage announced that they hadn't "done a damn thing."

He gave the session so far a grade of "F" (Democrats had rated it as "Incomplete").

This led to one of the best, most sarcastic quotes I've heard from a Maine politician:

"I'm sorry that the governor still doesn't understand the legislative process and apparently nobody on his staff has explained it to him," said Robert Nutting, the Republican speaker of the House.

LePage's staff also apparently didn't brief him on basic messaging or on the new détente with his Republican legislative allies.

When Republicans can't even come together to agree on attacking Democrats, you know something is seriously wrong.

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Things don't look like they'll be improving, either. Last week, Communications Director Dan Demeritt left the administration. His resignation was on the governor's desk one day after the Kennebec Journal reported on his deep, personal financial troubles, including foreclosure proceedings on five properties he owns in Augusta.

Demeritt hadn't had much luck restraining the governor lately, but he's still the only staff person who has ever been able to get LePage to tone things down. His arrival on the campaign in September 2010 led to LePage going nearly silent for the last three weeks of the race and canceling public appearances, a strategy that probably won him the election.

It's not clear if or when someone else will be tapped to fill the position Demeritt held, or, if the governor continues to make the same kind of hard-headed mistakes, who would want to.

Mike Tipping is a political junkie. He writes the Tipping Point blog on Maine politics at DownEast.com, his own blog at MainePolitics.net and works for the Maine People's Alliance and the Maine People's Resource Center. He's @miketipping on Twitter. Email: writebacktomike@gmail.com