May 17 2018

That Dodgy Candidate

 

Shawn Moody’s sudden conversion to conservatism has Maine people scratching their heads. Moody was anything but conservative when running for Governor as an Independent. As a political appointee of the Governor, he managed to keep a low profile within the LePage political machine.

With the confusion and lack of clarity on his political direction, perhaps the LePage camp felt they had found their “Manchurian”. The political landscape of Maine felt the rumble and shuffle as the whole of the Governor’s political machine shifted and morphed into the Moody team. Was this the blank slate that they needed to insure eight more years of the LePage regime?

But the heat of the primary has begun to mottle the hastily plated facade of a true conservative candidate and the juxtaposition of two different politicians from two different races is creating an uncomfortable reality for the kingmakers behind the politician. Shawn Moody is spending more and more time trying to dodge his inconsistencies. Yes, the dodge is on and the many moods of Moody is starting to show.

For a man who claims to be the outsider and the proverbial “unpolitician”, his mastery of the political rope-a-dope would hold even Ted Kennedy in awe. Debate moderators have scolded Moody for never answering a question and when he does they are surprised that he sounds more like the Democrats then the Republicans. This dodge and weave approach to truth is just the type of political gamesmanship the voting public has grown tired of.

Another candidate on the dodge is Mary Mayhew. Mayhew also had a conversion to conservatism. While the writer agrees that conservatism is great thing to convert to, the fruit of a conversion should show in the actions of a leader.

Mary Mayhew has faced bipartisan criticism for her handling of DHHS. With tragedy of a girl’s death in the form of repeated child abuse on Mayhew’s watch, this and the several other cases of poorly administrated abuse cases is a baggage that will sink her campaign. Mayhew has not addressed these concerns satisfactorily because she cannot.

With the Ken Fredette campaign struggling to gain traction, there is really only one choice for true conservatives in the Republican Gubernatorial primary. Garrett Mason can run on his record because it is there in plain sight for everyone to see. His conservative principles have stayed consistent, his ideals are constant, and they have not wavered.

The 2nd Amendment will be the divining issue of this election. This along with school choice, abortion, family values, fiscal restraint, defense of the Constitution, states rights, and so many more are not issues that should be left to chance to a candidate that dodges, bobs, and weaves their way around the issues. Maine needs a leader with a consistent record of conservatism and Garrett Mason is that leader.

May 14 2018

Monday Irony

Chuck Schumer doesn’t think we should celebrate the return of the three American captives. He also doesn’t think we should stop funding a terrorist nation. And then he doesn’t think….well, that just about covers it, don’t you think?

May 7 2018

Moody’s Blues

 

Once again the media and the political establishment have anointed who they think should be the candidates, explained to the voters why we should just except their established infallibility, and just embrace the inevitable by voting the way they indicate. So again, it’s the same old, same old. Two candidates, who the “powers that be” have foisted upon us, to which we are expected to except without question.

But I think not! For the Republicans, the establishment pick, Shawn Moody, has too many questions about too much duplicity, and not enough answers to assuage the doubts that surround him. The Republican Party does not do voters justice by anointing a candidate simply because the LePage political machine demands they do so.

Moody’s campaign from the onset has been based upon fallacy. It continues to brazenly spout these assertions and no one seems willing to challenge them. Let’s start now.

The Outsider: This claim seems more of the stuff of late night comic relief than a viable campaign strategy. Yes, the terminology is en vogue as of late but it is hard to substantiate when you are shouting it from inside the bowels of the LePage political power structure. Yes, the shuffle heard ’round the State was the movement of all the Governor’s soldiers moving their camp to under the Moody flag.

Not a politician: Again, do they speak in jest? How does a man run an Independent race for Governor, become a political appointee, and surround himself with all the Governor’s horses and all the Governor’s Ladies and Gents and not be a politician? The Moody campaign seems to enjoy playing fast and loose with facts.

The only one who has worked in the private sector: Now we are approaching sit-com level humor. Everyone of Moody’s opponents has worked in or run a private sector business. I find it unsettling that a man who wants to be Governor has such a narrow view of what is a valid profession in the private sector.

Mike Thibodeau, who has left the race, ran a very successful construction business and still owns a private sector business that manufactures snow shovels. Ken Fredette has a successful law office. Garrett Mason worked in the family construction business as a boy and then worked as an administrator for a professional sports team. Mary Mayhew has also worked in administration.

If only Shawn Moody had been given a few more opponents, he could have disparaged the entirety of the private sector profession save for Auto-body Technicians. Poorly thought out and thin on facts, Moody’s campaign song, constantly chirped and parroted, may in the end have him singing the Blues. With such a questionable foundation for a campaign, one has to wonder of the validity of the platform.

Conservatism?: Really? This is hard to swallow when the man spent an entire election railing against the tenets of conservatism. Seven years as a political appointee in the LePage administration and he never spoke out once of his embrace of conservative principles until right before announcing his conversion to a Republican and run for Governor? The people are right to question the convenience of Moody’s “Road to Damascus” moment on the eve of his new “NotapoliticianOutsider” campaign.

Traditional Family Values: This is to be expected. Every Republican candidate has a “Come to Jesus” moment in spring/early summer, when they realize they have to get elected. The question is, Who has a consistent record on those issues? Moody is murky at best and needs to speak with clarity on this and other issues.

For instance, the Ranked Choice Voting issue. Rumor has it that Shawn Moody has been in support of RCV until recently when political expediency dictated he switch. What is Shawn Moody’s stance on this issue? He needs to clarify.

And what of Medicaid expansion? Again, rumor has it that Mr. Moody has been in favor of expansion, while his new found Republican colleagues have been staunchly fighting the growth of this bureaucracy. Mr. Moody needs to set the record straight on these issues.

Shawn Moody has difficulty being a straight shooter when he has to keep dodging his political past. If Mr. Moody gets the Blues, it’s because he plays a song that has no soul. His rhythm strikes a chord of deceit and we’ve all heard this song before.