Taxes. It’s a word that strikes fear into the average citizen. No one should be surprised taxes are one of the top issues this election. Les Otten came out with an ad pledging not to raise taxes. Baldacci’s controversial budget has sparked a new round of heated tax discussion. Steve Rowe has supported increasing the tobacco tax to mitigate some of the budget cuts. Democratic contender Rosa Scarcelli has come out with a statement on these pledges and increases.
Scarcelli comes right out of the gate slamming the “no tax pledge.” Scarcelli calls such tactics simplistic and pandering. Those who dare to make such absolute statement often wish they hadn’t. Scarcelli makes it clear that she will not seek to raise taxes either. She seeks to manage services properly, rather than opting first to raise taxes to cover costs. Scarcelli goes on to say she is concerned with lowering Maine’s current tax burden and advocates for greater accountability in Augusta. “Does anybody really know if we’re getting the most bang for the buck?” says Scarcelli. “Why aren’t all the candidates taking that pledge?”
Scarcelli goes on to hammer home her outsider status, something unique to the Democratic candidates. Folks are sick of politics as usual, Scarcelli reasons, and as a business person she is the solution. Her solution to “empty pledges” is presented below.
• I pledge to create 50,000 new jobs throughout Maine, across all 16 counties. I’ll do that by taking effective steps to lower the cost of energy; to dramatically expand and make affordable health care coverage available to all Maine people; to vastly improve our education system with greater use of technology and innovation; to bolster our small family businesses that are the backbone of Maine’s economy.
• I pledge to turn around this state. To make sure every taxpayer dime is being spent wisely and is fully accounted for.
• I pledge to end the era blue ribbon commissions and task force studies that go nowhere in Augusta. I will hold a summit at the beginning of my term to map out the strategy, priorities and direction of our state government – and then take decisive action, with proper structures in place to assure accountability, monitoring and transparency as we move forward.
• I pledge to hire only qualified, capable, experienced people in my cabinet – no political payoffs, no cronyism.
Scarcelli is working a strategy here, seeking to control the conversation surrounding the Democratic primary. She led the discussion over school furlough days, clean elections, and most recently her fellow Democrats’ mandatory gun check positions. Whether this will amount to any support on the ground is another thing. These maneuvers from the Scarcelli camp show her bold style, regardless of whether one agrees with her or not. She is both attempting to define herself and force her opponents to follow her lead. This is not to say that Scarcelli is the only Democrat to follows this model.Despite Scarcelli’s attempt to turn the conversation around, Steve Rowe took a bold position on the tobacco tax. Rowe’s stance is certainly unpopular with some, including Scarcelli, but he did get out there first.
Putting yourself out there, like Scarcelli, in a crowded political race is a double edge sword. Around the turn of the new year, we said it was essential for candidates to separate themselves from the pack. That hasn’t changed, but you still have to be careful how you gain recognition. There is a chance of making a gaff or inadvertently highlighting your opponents strengths. Not everyone responded positively Scarcelli’s position on clean elections. One commenter at Dirigo Blue has already taken issue with parts of Scarcelli’s pledge. Though Scarcelli challenged her opponents to take a tough stance on gun checks and domestic violence, Rowe had a strong record combating domestic and sexual abuse as attorney general. Here Scarcelli’s challenge actually brought attention to Rowe’s work on domestic violence, though the issues surrounding the way Rowe released his response may drown that out.
Scarcelli is not the only Democratic candidate making waves. As we mentioned earlier, Rowe took a stand on the tobacco tax. During last year’s election, Rowe vocally supported same sex marriage and earned the support of the Downeast Pride Alliance. He has also earned the greatest number of endorsements for a Democrat so far: 63 Maine legislators, including House Majority Leader John Piotti, support Rowe. With three female challengers, Rowe has also been working to garner support from women. There is the “Women Rowe-ing” campaign and the support Rowe has received from former Maine Senate President Beth Edmonds.
Libby Mitchell has received a lot of press from Politico, but how that translates to Maine is questionable. Mitchell sponsored a bill to grantee paid sick days to workers. This has generated some press for Mitchell. Beyond some interviews and debates with the candidates, that is about all of the major press most have received. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. While Pat McGowan, Libby Mitchell, and John Richardson have been relatively quiet on the media front, they are likely building grassroots support. A quick survey of McGowan’s twitter feed shows that he is pounding the pavement. Rowe’s supporters have been getting their message out through various editorial pages. Richardson, however, has been incredibly quiet. Their website has not been updated since December and the candidate has no Twitter or Facebook page – at least not one we could find. Repeated attempts to contact the Richardson campaign have been met with silence. That sort of silence shows an unorganized campaign. At this point, that is something Richardson is unlikely to recover from.
Rising above your competition in a political campaign is important. How you go about that is just as critical. There is always the danger of saying too much too soon, leaving yours
elf open to attacks from your opponents. What is said in a primary race will carry over to the general election. A candidate must consider what they are releasing and its impact on their ultimate goal. Keep your eyes and ears open to what is coming out of the various campaigns. This will be the time when candidates define themselves and try to define their opponents. As the primary looms every closer, we are bound to see the Democratic race heat up. We hope it does, otherwise it will make for a boring primary and uninspired base.
