Woooaahhh! Easy killer...

For those of you who have spent the last couple of months living under your favorite rock, we are two weeks away from electing a new governor in Maine. Nichole and I have both been very involved in the Eliot Cutler campaign, volunteering as much time as we can. It took me a long time to have any interest in politics at all, and it seems as though I am slightly obsessed at this point. I've learned how everything done by our government not only affects me, but also my daughter. I've also learned that people are extremely passionate about politics, to the point of being completely insane! The following is an actual exchange on Facebook between two guys I don't know, a woman I don't know and myself. Please note that no matter what candidate you are voting for, she is crazy!

Martin Bumann: OH, JUST IN CASE PEOPLE HAVE SHORT ATTENTION SPANS...I THOUGHT I'D SHARE ONCE AGAIN!! NOW, HOW WILL THE LIBERAL MEDIA OUTLETS TRY TO SPIN THIS IN LIBERAL MITCHELLS FAVOR,UNLIKE AN OUT OF CONTEXT COMMENT MADE BY MAYOR LEPAGE??? THE HYPOCRICY ON THE LEFT IS DISGUSTING A...ND QUITE FRANKLY DANGEROUS TO AMERICA!!! WAKE UP FOLKS, WE NEED POSITIVE CHANGE NOT MORE OF THE SAME !!

Mark Stevens: Martin, have you got a short attention span? LePage has said one thing after another that are rather unfavorable. I'm NOT defending Mitchell, but you can't ignore things on one side and get all angry when the other side does the same thing. I would dare define that as hypocrisy, no?!

Jim Marandola: Mark.... You said "LePage has said one thing after another that are rather unfavorable." I'm just curious as to what some of those things might be. I know about his statement regarding what future headlines might look like....but I'm curious as to what other things he has said that are unfavorable.

Martin Bumann: Jim, He can't come up with any.Maybe the things the dems don't agree with are rather unfavorable to them,they are kinda' selfish creatures

Mark Stevens: Jeez guys, sorry i didn't respond to your questions sooner, I've been volunteering all day. Jim, I seem to remember LePage saying something like "let's cut the bullshit". I would say that is unfavorable by a gubernatorial candidate. Or how about when LePage said he "wants to punch AJ Higgins"? Joke or not, again, unfavorable. And, of course, his comment that he would be telling "Obama to go to hell". Once again, unfavorable. It's time to stop wearing blinders and realize that your top guy is FAR from perfect. He makes you all warm and fuzzy because he angrily shakes his fist about reducing the size of governent, which he WILL NOT do, he will just reduce the stuff he doesn't like, while increasing it in other areas he does want. His promises to the various special interest groups do NOTHING to lower the budget shortfall, they will actually make things worse. And please explain to me how his plan to sue the US Govt to repeal universal healthcare will help my brother in law, who has a pre existing condition? Preaching anger will accomplish nothing and will put us further behind after 4 years then any of the other candidates would.

Sarah S. Pearce: And what Cutler wants is ok? He is associated with the WORSE president (so far) in history. Anyone that wants that belongs in a straightjacket.
I know passion is foreign to most democrats. but it's what made this country great.

Mark Stevens: Eliot Cutler plans on going over the budget, line by line to determine where we are spending wastefully. He plans on changing the culture of the spend now, figure out how to pay later way of thinking that has been happening for some time now. He plans to work with both sides of the aisle, without the special interest promises, to create a climate where businesses not only want to come to Maine, but they thrive. Oh, and he will get this all done without angrily shaking his fist and spewing rhetoric at every turn. He plans on turning around our education system, so our children realize you should have said "WORST", not "WORSE". He will be willing and excited to take input from both Democrats and Republicans and make Maine the state we all know it is capable of.

And Sarah, there is a difference between passion and anger.

Sarah S. Pearce: Plans! Grand plans! Jimmy Carter had plans, too! Obama has plans! There is a reason people go by actions, not words. Plans don't mean crap when coming from a politician, ANY politician.
As for WORSE, excuse me for the typo, some of us work for a living and are exhaused.

Mark Stevens: You do realize that at this point all they can have are plans, right? None of them are actually the governor, so plans are what we voters are listening for to determine who we think would be the right person to vote for. Once Eliot gets elected, he will put his current plans into action and we will all benefit from it.

Oh, and thanks for that attempted work jab, but I put in 60 plus hours a week at several jobs, volunteer and spend time with my family, don't talk to me about being exhausted.

Sarah S. Pearce: Actually, Mark, if your head were screwed on straight you would remember that Paul LePage has the most experience in this area.
Why do you need several jobs, Mark? Maybe because democrats like Cutler have taxed us to death?

Sarah S. Pearce: Got a theme song for old Ellie...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmUJcxto5N8

Mark Stevens: Most experience in what area, making plans? I thought they were crap coming from politicians?! LePage has created what, about one hundred low paying jobs at Marden's? With little to no benefits, right? His own employees need to go to the state for help. His own employees are the very people that he wants to "put on a bus to Massachusetts". Jeez, can't wait for him to provide more of that for the good people of Maine, that'll make us a better state.

And I choose to work several jobs because I enjoy the work, the social aspect and the extra money to provide for my family. Taxes have absolutely nothing to do with it, and when exactly has Cutler "taxed us to death"?

Sarah S. Pearce: I said Democrats like Cutler, little man. I see you are jealous of Paul... thats ok, most democrats are. Boy are you gonna be ticked that first tuesday evening in november!
I know you don't read real news, or you wouldn't be a Cutler brownnoser, but Paul is mayor of Waterville...ever heard of it?

Sarah S. Pearce: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do08knSeUyM

Mark Stevens: Oh, here comes the sarcasm and continued posting of links, fun!

Cutler joined the race as an Independent and is the only one of the top three polling that would be able to work with both sides of the aisle in Augusta. He brings more experience and knowledge to the table than LePage, and has the temperament to get things done without flipping his lid when something doesn't go his way.

Have you noticed that Cutler has been running a clean campaign, with no party spending thousands to back him? LePage and Mitchell can't say the same thing. Cutler is focusing his time and energy traversing the state, meeting people and getting his message out, not throwing mud at his competition.

Jim Marandola: Worked great for Angus King....... He basically got NOTHING accomplished except to let the Democrats continue to run the state into the ground...Oh, and of course the "lost money" in the budget.

Jim Marandola: And BTW, Mark..... Once again you have misquoted the "go to hell" statement and your "Joke or not" comment, in my opinion, is "unfavorable". You see...whether or not a comment is "unfavorable" or not, depends on the attitude of THE LISTENER.........NOT the person making the comment. You find these THREE examples as "unfavorable" because you don't support LePage. I find Eliot Cutler "unfavorable" because he has spent the last decade working with countries OVERSEAS (like COMMUNIST CHINA) to help THEIR economies while killing AMERICAN jobs..........if you really want to get into "cutting the bullshit". He has a LOT of nerve even asking for American votes.See More

Jim Marandola: Here's a nice little QUOTE from Eliot Cutler from an article in Reuters in 2007:
Cutler said that: "China suffers from a too small and too weak central government."

THAT is position that most people would find hard to believe. JUST the type of thinking we want in a state that is already to bogged down with regulations and government intrusion. If he thinks that RED CHINA doesn't have enough government regulation....how much does he think is enough?

Sarah S. Pearce: Focused? Cutler? The only thing Cutler is focused on is making money. Cutler himself said over and over that he has NO plan for Maine. He has NO idea what to do, he has NO answers. Don't quote his new "I wanna get elected" website, study the facts.
When he was the OMB's Associate Director his selfish inaction got 39 people killed. He couldn't be bothered to force the dams to get inspected, even after 333 people died. That led to the Kelley Barnes dam in Ga's collapse. You willing to let that kind of man have this state? I am not.

Mark Stevens: Jim, I have not misquoted Lepage. You are trying to spin it my friend, and people are starting to wake up. I don't find them unfavorable because I don't support him, I don't support him because he does and says things that are unfavorable. I want a governor who will not only bring Maine out of the slump we are in and make it thrive, but I also want someone that won't give Maine a black eye for doing and/or saying unfavorable things. Like I have been saying for a while now, I get that people are angry, I'm angry too, but the majority of the population, MANY Republicans included, realize that LePage is one disagreement away from snapping and actually punching somebody. How many times does he need to slip up, appologize, only to slip up again, before you realize he isn't this perfect person you make him out to be?

When has Cutler ever said he has no plans, Sarah? He has said he is making no PROMISES to special interests. There is a big difference. If memory serves, which it does, LePage has made at least a couple of promises that will actually drive the deficit even further into the red. And to say Cutler is responsible for anyones death is absolutely absurd. Dial back the anger and hate, it's going to be alright, I promise.

Sarah S. Pearce: Wow Mark. What flavor was that koolaid? I am sorry you are so misled.
I do give you props for having the balls to lie on the internet. Or are you just a moron?
P.S. There is nothing wrong for standing up for your beliefs. I know it's foreign to a Democrat, but republicans do it all the time.

Mark Stevens: Well Sarah, I love a good back and forth, but when the personal attacks start, that's when I draw the line. I would love to say it was great talking to you, but I wouldn't want to actually "lie on the internet".



I'm sorry for how long that was, I just really wanted to illustrate how people are passionate about politics, and some are over the top. There was actually more to the back and forth, but I kept it out in order to not make this too long. Something else to keep in mind is that people kind of create things that aren't real to get a point accross sometimes. For example, most of Jim's point about Cutler and China are completely fabricated and untrue.

What makes this world great is that we have different views and ideas. If we all thought the same way, just think about how boring this world would be. That being said, people need to get ahold of themselves! The Portland Press Herald, yesterday, decided to turn off the capability of readers to comment on stories because of heated exchanges, just like some of the things Sarah was saying from above. It's not about Republicans or Democrats, both sides toss out some pretty stupid things. Everybody needs to take a step back and realize we are all working towards the same goal. Nobody is trying to hijack the state or country and turn us into a third world country or burden our grandchildren with more debt than they can ever imagine. That is simply not what is happening here. We are staring at some tough times, and getting out of this mess is going to take some time and some teamwork to make it happen. Both sides need to work together and get past their differences or we are all completely fucked. I'm just saying...