Maine People’s Alliance’s Twisted View Of Maine Voters

The Maine People’s Alliance is truly showing itself to be a deplorable machine geared on constant negativity. It’s deceptive name would lead people to believe it is on the side of the people. This delusional state of mind is even spreading into their smear campaigns, where they falsely claim to speak for the voters of Maine.

Hubris high.

Now just weeks after the campaign depicting political opponents as murderers (noted in a previous Undercover Porcupine article, “Clash of the Maine Political Titans: Medicaid Expansion Edition“), they are targeting State Legislators with dirty mailers.

A mailer went out targeting Republican State Representative Heather Sirocki for refusing to overturn Governor Paul LePage’s veto. Again, the heated rhetoric implying political opponents are murderers was used when the mailer stated Representative Sirocki’s vote would “cost many mainers their lives.”

The attacks became personal when it claimed Representative Sirocki had no heart or spine.

Then it ends with “Signed: The Voters Of Maine.”

Seriously? It’s one thing to be dishonest in dirty smear tactics, but the arrogance is being taken to a new level by an organization focused on the destruction of rational political discourse.

Does the Maine People’s Alliance seriously believe that every Mainer is an arrogant, spiteful individual who spits vitriol at everyone they disagree with?

That’s a sad view of the people of Maine.

It’s to be expected from an organization so out of touch with the people of Maine that it deploys disciples of discontent from outside of Maine. This is interesting considering the number of Medicaid expansion supporters, including MPA’s Communications Director Mike Tipping, slamming the Koch Brothers for supposedly interfering with Maine politics.

These out-of-state warriors have begun stalking opposing legislators at their homes. Representative Sirocki posted on her personal Facebook about an encounter:

It’s official ~ Campaign Season has Begun. The far left Maine People’s Alliance just left my home with one of their negative messages. At 11:00 am on a Sunday morning, really?

In the same post, she followed up with a comment:

I did not answer the door to speak with this group. In the past, we have had people from Connecticut and Ohio in my neighborhood, and Rep. Amy Volk has had them from Kansas City. One claimed to be from Portland, but when pressed, admitted their driver’s license was from CT. Another claimed to be a constituent, but when I asked for her street address, she admitted she planned to move to Scarborough, but actually lived in Portland.

Representative Sirocki further explained on her Facebook page that Maine People’s Alliance staffers have been identified from has far away as Ohio and Missouri. She also received a visit late one evening on Valentine’s Day from a staffer who initially lied about being a Portland resident, only to admit they were actually from Connecticut.

This is an insult to the people of Maine. Smearing people is fairly regular in politics, it happens often and it’s become accepted as apart of the norm. Being hateful and cynical is also apart of accepted practice. Dishonesty itself is even commonplace in politics.

But what leads the Maine People’s Alliance, an organization that falsely depicts itself as one of the people, to believe that Mainers agree with the dirty tactics?

Hubris.

Even supporters of Medicaid expansion should oppose this low level of discourse. Why? It adds unneeded depth to an already deep divide in America between opposing ideologies. Political parties find it difficult to sit down at a table and have a rational conversation about policy because mudslinging organizations feed the venom.

To be clear, this is not a practice isolated to any particular party or ideology. It happens in politics. But the Maine People’s Alliance is taking things to a new level in demonizing their opponents while deploying an out-of-state ground force.

How can the Maine People’s Alliance really believe they speak for the people when they need non-Mainers to speak for them?

Chris Dixon

About Chris Dixon

Chris Dixon is a libertarian-leaning writer and managing editor for The Liberty Conservative. In addition to his political writing, he also covers baseball for Cleat Geeks and enjoys writing on a number of other topics ranging on Medium.