The Masquerade Ball or Party, whatever your flavor, invokes many iconic images. Depending on your experiences with such revelry, these images may trigger varying emotions. For a backwoods country bumpkin like me, who has never been to a ball, masquerade or no, these images mean nothing.
Still, for those who partake, I have heard that the highlight of a masquerade party is the reveal. Depending on what lies beneath the mask, the unveiling can either generate a certain thrill or dose of disappointment. This is what we find in this year’s election cycle.
Both Mike Michaud and Emily Cain have reveled in their own political masquerade for many years now. Both are now trying to increase their prominence and garner the increased interest of party goers in the political promenade, but the harsh glare of scrutiny, on a bigger stage, has demanded the reveal far sooner than either would like. No longer can they simply glide in the shadows of their own hidden world.
Mike Michaud’s most recent false attack ad just highlights a pattern of dishonesty the Congressman has been able to mask, while hiding in obscurity in Washington D.C. The ad is simply a rehash of an MEA attack ad that was run during the Governor’s first term. So egregiously did the ad misrepresent the facts, that even the Bangor Daily News was obliged to run an editorial refuting the ad and rebuking the creators of it for taking the Governor’s words out of context. The mask has come off.
Michaud claims he is the only one who can work across party lines, yet many remember that when he served in the Maine State Senate as John Martin’s right hand man, they were known as one of the most partisan and ruthless political duos in Maine history. In contrast, a strong majority of the bills Governor LePage has signed into law in this past legislative session, were sponsored by Democrats. Something in Mike Michaud’s narrative doesn’t ring true.
Mr. Michaud also ran an ad with an interview of an “out of work” Maine man. The only problem was- the man wasn’t out of work. When the man was interviewed, he admitted the farce and said he had been told to sign a waiver, so that the campaign could use his interview any way they liked.
Michaud has run ads making false claims about the tax cuts. He now claims that he fixed the Veterans Administration, while we all watched horrified as our heroes died in waiting rooms. What did he fix?
Amazingly, he promoted a music video describing Senator Collins as committing lewd acts and refused to fire a campaign staffer, who made lewd and disgusting attacks on women. Michaud even attacked First Lady Ann Lepage, mocking her many years of work for the veterans of the State of Maine. Not quite the guy we thought he was, is he? Still think he is one of us?
Then there is the sweet and kindly Emily Cain, or so we thought. Emily Cain has run one of the most negative campaigns in Maine history, which has backfired on her. Again, even the Bangor Daily News has admonished her for the negative and deceptive ads, citing them as the reasons for her precipitous drop in the polls. The Daily admits that Bruce Poliquin has run a much more positive campaign focused on less debt and more jobs.
Cain’s only hope is that the allegiance she has formed with Blaine Richardson, who is polling at 3%, will be enough to thwart the wishes of the voters of CD2. This woman, who has never held a private sector job, who voted to force children to have mandatory weigh-ins at school, has only her own interests in mind and none of the peoples. It’s amazing what you see once you pull the mask off.
The Maine Conservative Voice 
To my Dear Friends and Acquaintances ,
Some of you already know that I had started a petition campaign to help Gubernatorial Candidate Mike Michaud understand the hurt inflicted on women when he and his campaign promoted a video in collaboration with a Rapper who degraded U.S. Senator Susan Collins and the Women of Maine. Representative Deb Sanderson asked for Mike Michaud’s apology but received a reprimand by him instead.
I tried to help get this apology or at least an acknowledgment that Women of Maine care about being degraded. 103 women and 2 men supported our petition and that covered representation for 12 of our 16 counties. I hand delivered the petition to Mike Michaud after the Lewiston, Maine Gubernatorial forum 3 weeks ago. We have received no acknowledgment from him or his campaign. I asked for a meeting and received no acknowledgment from him or his campaign.
I then sent an editorial to the Portland Press Herald one week ago and have not received any acknowledgment that the letter will be published. As a last resort, I thought that if I let all of my email contacts know this information that it might help them to make a wise choice with their voting. Too much information that people should know is swept under the rug. Regardless if you support Mike Michaud or another candidate, my hope is that this information will help you to make more of an informed choice.
The following information contains the petition including the supporters, the letter to the Portland Press Herald Editor and photographs of Mike Michaud with his Rapper friend and of my delivery of the petition to him. If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to provide further information. I appreciate your time and review of this information.
Linda Wooten
Auburn, Maine
The Petition:
October 9, 2014
Dear Mr. Michaud,
We the undersigned at this time are attempting to help you to understand our grief with the rap that was used to promote a video about you titled, The King of Maine on the Road with Mike Michaud. While we realize that you did not write the words of the Rap and did not choose this Rap for the video that was created to promote you, you did share the link to the video in which many people viewed and heard the video. The video was also featured on the Bangor Daily News blog of Alex Steed and featured on the early morning radio talk show, George Hale and Ric Tyler of WVOM 101.3. Thousands heard the Rap that references a female, namely-United States Senator Susan Collins, in a degrading manner.
Many women are insulted by this and although you did not create the Rap or the video, you did in fact promote the video and had a photo op with the Rapper which has the appearance of you and the Rapper as friends and has the appearance of your approval for the degrading line concerning falletio performed by a female . Many attempts have been made besieging you to apologize to Susan Collins and the women of Maine.
The wrong people are being attacked for bringing this to your attention and your supporters are furthering the damage by telling us that our concerns are invalid and petty. We are women and we deserve respect and we deserve from someone like you to understand the hurt that is inflicted on our gender by condoning the degrading lyrics that were used to portray a decent woman of Maine, Susan Collins, or any women! We stand with Representative Deb Sanderson with wanting an apology!
Please Support the Women of Maine,
Linda Wooten (Auburn, Maine)
Representative Deb Sanderson (Augusta, Maine)
Wendy Turner (Buckfield, Maine)
Representative Stacey Guerin (West Glenburn, Maine)
Michelle Langill (Danville, Maine)
Leslie Dubois (Lewiston, Maine City Councilor)
Maine National Committeewoman Ashley Ryan (Portland, Maine)
Tracy Purcell (New Gloucester, Maine)
Naran Row-Spalding (Maine)
Representative Heather Sirocki (Scarborough, Maine)
Esther Newendyke (Litchfield, Maine)
Linda Scott (Lewiston, Maine School Board)
Jeanne Gagnon (Sabattus, Maine)
Donna Harrison (Greene, Maine)
Cindy Nesbit (Bowdoin, Maine)
Elizabeth Liscomb (Bar Harbor, Maine)
Renee Trust (Franklin, Maine)
Sandra Blanchette (Bangor, Maine)
Vicki Quattrucci (York County, Maine)
Catherine Johnson (North Waterboro, Maine)
The Honorable Lois Snowe-Mello (Poland,Maine)
Pam Vaillancourt (Auburn, Maine)
Sandra-Anne Cronin (Topsham, Maine)
Judith Wilson Ellis (Topsham, Maine)
Janice Pinkham Eldridge (Hancock County)
Darcy Reed (Lewiston, Maine)
Patricia Zebley (Lewiston, Maine)
Loretta Hanscome (Lisbon, Maine)
Patricia Keyes (Swanville,Maine)
Margaret Howson (Hampden, Maine)
Anna Mavros Johnson (Lewiston, Maine)
Melissa Anthony (Fryeburg, Maine)
Renee Fortin (Lewiston, Maine)
Kelly Hutchinson (Winslow, Maine)
Wanda Lincoln (Old Town, Maine)
Sandra Curlew (Biddeford, Maine)
Coleen Daskoski (Auburn, Maine)
Mary E. Dow (Richmond, Maine)
Aline Dupont (Bethel, Maine)
Diana Grenier (Greene, Maine)
Sandra Robinson (Troy,Maine)
Cindy Belanger (Saco, Maine)
Diane Baldwin (Wiscasset, Maine)
Teresa Settell (Parsonsfield, Maine)
Cindy Mendros (Lewiston, Maine School Committee At-Large)
Ray Psonak (New Gloucester, Maine)
Janet Psonak (New Gloucester, Maine)
Courtney Tufts (Minot, Maine)
Jacqueline French (Orland, Maine)
Sandra Larson (Hollis Center, Maine)
Kim Dunn (Lincolnville, Maine)
Dena Worster (Palmyra, Maine)
Cynthia Lyles Fisher (Embden, Maine)
Carrie Pelletier (Biddeford, Maine)
Colleen M. Caron (Biddeford, Maine)
Heidi Field (Saco, Maine)
Melanie Mitchell (Arundel, Maine)
Joy Aikey (Biddeford, Maine)
Bonny Rose (Saco, Maine)
Barbara Adams (Windham, Maine)
Samantha Varney (South Durham, Maine)
Representative Ellie Espling (New Gloucester,Maine)
Anita St. Germain (Auburn, Maine)
Raymond St. Germain (Auburn, Maine)
Doris Coluni (Springvale, Maine)
Joanna Said (Livermore, Maine)
Cheryl Pelletier (Freeport, Maine)
Lorraine Lindley (Bangor, Maine)
Doris Meehan (Windham, Maine)
Tammy DeHetre (Hollis Center, Maine)
Rita Chute (Kittery, Maine)
Blanche Woehr (Clifton, Maine)
Beth Crafts Bell (Auburn, Maine)
Marianne Sansouci (Augusta, Maine)
Carol Davis (Litchfield, Maine)
Lois Harrington (Augusta, Maine)
Trish Ayer (Winslow, Maine)
Linda Lemieux (Winslow, Maine)
Lynda Hoff (Newburgh, Maine)
Kim Olsen (Phippsburg, Maine)
Anne Cole-Fairfield (Westport Island, Maine)
Alie Anderton (Cumberland, Maine)
The Honorable Beth A. O’Connor (Berwick, Maine)
Phyllis A. Ginzler (Bridgeton, Maine)
Debbie Wright Theriault (Brewer, Maine)
Debi Davis (Biddeford, Maine)
Paula J. Stotts (Mechanic Falls, Maine)
Ellen Winchenbach (Waldoboro, Maine)
Kathleen Hasler Schuyler, R.N. (Brunswick, Maine)
Allyson J. Korsiak (Troy, Maine)
Paulee Willette (Republican Town Chair of Sabattus, Maine)
Barbara Chamberlain (Auburn, Maine)
Jean Wolkens (Topsham, Maine)
Stacey Fulton (Saco, Maine)
Andrea J. Lane (Greenwood, Maine)
Sherri Harvey (Woolwich, Maine)
Catherine Lavallee (Winslow, Maine)
Gail Tibbetts Bucklin (Lewiston, Maine)
Stephanie Welling (Lewiston, Maine)
Sarah Pearce (Wiscasset, Maine)
Roxy Hagerman (Bridgton, Maine)
Shannon Cutter (Turner, Maine)
Katie Wichenbach (Waldoboro, Maine)
Laura J. McCabe (Bridgeton, Maine)
Patricia Harris (Lewiston, Maine)
Kendra McLaughlin (Waterboro, Maine)
Kathy Johnson (Monson, Maine)
Here is the Letter to the Editor:
Dear Editor Portland Press Herald,
I want to express to women of Maine and to Gubernatorial Candidate for Governor Mike Michaud how sorry I am for not being effective with Michaud on my attempt to help him understand the hurt that left a mark on the female gender by not denouncing the rapper who was a collaboration for a video produced on Michaud’s behalf. In that Rap, Susan Collins and women everywhere were degraded. We asked Shenna Bellows and Michelle Obama if they would support us but we got no response. We did gain support from 105 men and women in a tripartisan effort including several current and past Maine House Representatives and Candidates from 12 of our 16 Maine Counties.
Although I handed Michaud a petition to ask for his acknowledgement and apology for promoting the rap/video collaboration, he did not. There was never a mention that he cared. It was as if the concern by women was invalidated by him and not worth his time. In regards to that, I hope that my letter will be published to personally thank all 105 people who supported the effort. Hopefully our effort is not in vain for future endeavors to instill in others a respect for our gender.
Linda Wooten
Auburn, Maine
376-5261
The photographs are attached! Thank you for reading this in it’s entirety! Linda
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