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Ethan: Five weeks to Election Day! Are you feeling melancholy because the election is almost over?
Phil: You’re joking right? The Iowa Caucus is only 15 months after! The beauty of our jobs — there is always another election.
Ethan: So, what did you make of the only debate between the candidates running for the 2nd Congressional District: attorney Tiffany Bond, U.S. Rep. Jared Golden and former U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin?
Phil: As we discussed in the studio that day, the first tenet of political debating was met — no self-inflicted wounds (or wounding the moderator).
Ethan: Yup. Let’s start with Bond.
Phil: Good poise. Clearly intelligent. Yet, I still don’t know why she is running. Why does she want to represent the 2nd District, when she doesn’t even live there yet? I mean, she told supporters to donate money to any cause other than her campaign.
Ethan: For our readers, Phil is referring to Bond telling viewers to give money to heating assistance instead of her. While noble, that move did feel a little hollow if she is serious about communicating her message. However, I give her credit for bringing the best idea to the table on how to handle the Jay mill closure (repurpose it to meet rural medical needs) and for her answer on abortion. She shamed them both for supporting any restrictions on the personal decsion a family must make if an abortion is needed.
Phil: On Golden, other than the disrespectful distraction of appearing for a debate for Congress in clothes better suited for a hunters breakfast, he needs to find a better answer for his vote for the “Inflation Reduction Act,” which has done little to stem inflation.
Ethan: I expect the people of the 2nd District are very appreciative of the hundreds of millions that will come into the district because of that vote, not to mention the lower prescription prices they will pay, and the reduction in carbon emissions that may yet save their natural resources. Although I do wish his defense of the vote was as forceful and clear as I just articulated.
Phil: And what was your take on Poliquin?
Ethan: His use of the antisemitic “America First” language was very troubling. You’ll remember that I turned to you in the studio when he said it and commented, “This is what Nazi sympathizers said to try and prevent us from entering World War II.”
Phil: I do. And while I don’t condone using language with historical ties to antisemitism, I don’t think that was his intent. He was trying to say we need to prioritize Mainers and border security before we focus on aid for “Dreamers.” I think the majority of voters agree with him.
Ethan: Many “Dreamers” have lived in America and Maine longer than many Mainers. And if Poliquin thinks building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico is the best use of Mainers money, he is heading for a drubbing.
Phil: I think you underestimate how voters view our porous border. That said, Mainers definitely care about the cost of living as winter descends and Poliquin was smart to remind Golden over and over about unnecessary spending and how inflation and unemployment were at all time lows when he was in office.
Ethan: Yes, he was like a dog with a bone on that topic — he just wouldn’t let it go. Your final take?
Phil: It’s Golden’s campaign to lose, and Poliquin will need to create momentum as the next month unfolds. He must motivate the “soft voters” who believe that Golden has not quite sided with his conservative district over Washington’s liberal agenda.
