ME: Independents Gaining Traction

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

That was a pretty cringy Eves ad. Go Cote https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdhD3e0NrUU

Did you know that Veteran Adam Cote is in fact a Veteran? He's a Veteran. Vote Veteran Adam Cote, Veteran, for Governor. Veteran.

I would certainly hope that you're not suggesting being a veteran is some sort of meaningless resume booster worthy of scorn and derision.  Whatever else he has or hasn't done, Cote risked his life to help defend his country.  Frankly, that post came across as kinda disrespectful of the man's military service although this may have been unintentional on your part.

He's more mocking the constant use of being a Veteran in Cote's ads I think.

Got it

[MAINEiac4434]

That was a pretty cringy Eves ad. Go Cote https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdhD3e0NrUU

Did you know that Veteran Adam Cote is in fact a Veteran? He's a Veteran. Vote Veteran Adam Cote, Veteran, for Governor. Veteran.

I would certainly hope that you're not suggesting bein a veteran is some sort of meaningless resume booster worthy of scorn and derision.  Whatever else he has or hasn't done, Cote risked his life to help defend his country.  Frankly, that post came across as kinda disrespectful of the man's military service although this may have been unintentional on your part.

All he has is IM A VETERAN VOTE FOR ME.

He’s probably gonna be the nominee, because this party makes nothing but bad choices, and when the state finds out he doesn’t know anything about anything, he’s gonna lose.

It’s why he’s hitting the veteran thing so hard, which is why I’m making fun of him. It’s more of a comment one how he offers nothing else.

And in spite of all this HE’S STILL BETTER THAN JANET MILLS.

[MAINEiac4434]

Has Cote ran for anything in the past/Does he have prior political connections? If not, then why is he doing so well?

He ran for CD-01 in 2008, when incumbent Tom Allen retired to take on Susan Collins in the Senate election. He ran in that election as a moderate against Strimling and Pingree in that race, and he's done nothing politically for a decade. But he ingratiated himself into the moneyed establishment of the Democratic Party in this state. He's nothing but their pawn.

[Horsemask]

Has Cote ran for anything in the past/Does he have prior political connections? If not, then why is he doing so well?

He ran for CD-01 in 2008, when incumbent Tom Allen retired to take on Susan Collins in the Senate election. He ran in that election as a moderate against Strimling and Pingree in that race, and he's done nothing politically for a decade. But he ingratiated himself into the moneyed establishment of the Democratic Party in this state. He's nothing but their pawn.

Did he kick your dog or something? Jeez!

[MAINEiac4434]

Has Cote ran for anything in the past/Does he have prior political connections? If not, then why is he doing so well?

He ran for CD-01 in 2008, when incumbent Tom Allen retired to take on Susan Collins in the Senate election. He ran in that election as a moderate against Strimling and Pingree in that race, and he's done nothing politically for a decade. But he ingratiated himself into the moneyed establishment of the Democratic Party in this state. He's nothing but their pawn.

Did he kick your dog or something? Jeez!

Cote represents the worst of politics in my opinion: the insider and donor class in our politics. Look at his campaign finance reports, for god's sake. I feel like he's being forced on me.

He just seems so damn fake.

[MAINEiac4434]

So, Janet Mills just said she was held at gun point by an exboyfriend as a young woman during tonight's debate.

I don't think that's ever been made public before.

[GoldenMainer]

Just got around to watching the last debate (as I usually do on a night when I can't sleep, ha).

I found myself agreeing the most with Sweet, Mills, and Russell. Sweet comes across as very down-to-earth and I liked her answer about the last 2 years of college being free when you've completed a year of service (I was waiting for someone to speak about a service option). I also appreciated her desire to work with young farmers. I agree with a previous poster in that I wish she wouldn't refer to herself as a lobbyist. It has a negative connotation and doesn't do her previous work justice.

Russell had the best answer on the opioid crisis about the need to look at the public health impact of Hepatitis/HIV. Her campaign finance issues are a problem which is a bummer considering I agree with a lot of what she says.

Mills isn't as progressive as I am but I've warmed up to her. She is incredibly knowledgeable, I like that she places emphasis on the need for a prosperous second district (not just a prosperous first). I loved that she went after Cote in the debate- his ads suck. I find her the most prepared to really hit the ground running when she's elected.

Eves is just there for me. I don't like him or dislike him. His answers don't do anything for me. He's from my area so I should be rooting for the "hometown guy" but he's too bland and a bit vague.

Donna Dion- No opinion, does nothing for me. Not a serious contender.

Mark Dion- Don't care for him.

I find Cote slimy. I'm a couple towns away from Sanford and know the area well. It's a real sh!thole- obviously not his fault but I don't see his "leadership" in the town anywhere. Main Street is full of potholes, drugs everywhere, and the town government is notorious for being incompetent at practically everything so for him to tout himself as some sort of "leader" in the town is a joke. I found his answer about being a Republican until 2006 to be unsatisfying and I'm skeptical about some of the people standing behind him.


My ranking as of now looks something like:  

Sweet > Mills > Russell > Eves > D. Dion > M. Dion > Cote

[henster]

Cote seems the most electable hope he wins. Moody looks like he'd be pretty formidable as the nominee so I don't think Ds should go the bold progressive route against him.

[Horsemask]

Just got around to watching the last debate (as I usually do on a night when I can't sleep, ha).

I found myself agreeing the most with Sweet, Mills, and Russell. Sweet comes across as very down-to-earth and I liked her answer about the last 2 years of college being free when you've completed a year of service (I was waiting for someone to speak about a service option). I also appreciated her desire to work with young farmers. I agree with a previous poster in that I wish she wouldn't refer to herself as a lobbyist. It has a negative connotation and doesn't do her previous work justice.

Russell had the best answer on the opioid crisis about the need to look at the public health impact of Hepatitis/HIV. Her campaign finance issues are a problem which is a bummer considering I agree with a lot of what she says.

Mills isn't as progressive as I am but I've warmed up to her. She is incredibly knowledgeable, I like that she places emphasis on the need for a prosperous second district (not just a prosperous first). I loved that she went after Cote in the debate- his ads suck. I find her the most prepared to really hit the ground running when she's elected.

Eves is just there for me. I don't like him or dislike him. His answers don't do anything for me. He's from my area so I should be rooting for the "hometown guy" but he's too bland and a bit vague.

Donna Dion- No opinion, does nothing for me. Not a serious contender.

Mark Dion- Don't care for him.

I find Cote slimy. I'm a couple towns away from Sanford and know the area well. It's a real sh!thole- obviously not his fault but I don't see his "leadership" in the town anywhere. Main Street is full of potholes, drugs everywhere, and the town government is notorious for being incompetent at practically everything so for him to tout himself as some sort of "leader" in the town is a joke. I found his answer about being a Republican until 2006 to be unsatisfying and I'm skeptical about some of the people standing behind him.


My ranking as of now looks something like:  

Sweet > Mills > Russell > Eves > D. Dion > M. Dion > Cote

Well, it's no Biddeford...

[Horsemask]

Curious to hear all of y'all's thoughts on this.

https://www.pressherald.com/2018/06/07/primary-voting-results-could-be-delayed-until-at-least-june-18/comments/

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[MAINEiac4434]

^^^ been thinking about that a lot recently, especially as it's seemingly a tossup between four candidates on the Democratic side. I think we should know CD2's results that night, however, there's only four candidates on the ballot, one of whom has withdrawn and the other who's gained no traction. Same for the GOP.

By the next morning on the Dem side we'll probably only know that Dion, Dion and Russell have all been dropped.

[henster]

Looks like EMILY's List is making a last minute ad buy against Cote in support of Mills. The group also was critical in helping Emily Cain win the primary both times by funding attack ads against her opponent Troy Jackson.

https://www.pressherald.com/2018/06/06/national-womens-group-goes-after-cote-in-bid-to-elect-mills-in-democratic-primary/

[MAINEiac4434]

Mark Eves wins an online strawpoll, followed by Sweet, Cote and Mills in the first round. After redistribution, Eves beats Sweet 58-42.

http://mainebeacon.com/eves-wins-beacon-straw-poll-followed-by-sweet-cote-and-mills/

[BBD]

Looks like EMILY's List is making a last minute ad buy against Cote in support of Mills. The group also was critical in helping Emily Cain win the primary both times by funding attack ads against her opponent Troy Jackson.

https://www.pressherald.com/2018/06/06/national-womens-group-goes-after-cote-in-bid-to-elect-mills-in-democratic-primary/

What a miserable, pathetic organization.

[henster]

And here's the attack ad from EMILY's List, pretty lame basically hits Cote for being a Republican a decade ago.

https://www.facebook.com/MaineWomenTogether/videos/10155805304429195/UzpfSTEwMjcwNjUzMzQ6MTAyMTM2ODM2NzUyNTkyOTE/

[Politician]

EMILYs List may be one of the biggest drags down on House Democrats.

[RussFeingoldWasRobbed]

Emilys list is another vile, establishment shill organization. Shameful

[henster]

I just hate how inconsistent they are. They claim to want to elect more pro-choice women but leave a lot of them high and dry, they spent nothing on Rachel Reddick but millions for Sara Jacobs. I don't even think they endorsed Kara Eastman.

[MAINEiac4434]

And, completely opposite of Cote and Mills, Eves and Sweet are campaigning together. They’re basically running mates at this point, and, with all of this negativity swirling around Cote and Mills, I’m feeling strongly one of them will be the nominee. Look at this:

[MAINEiac4434]

For the record I’m not going to be partaking in this thread or Jared Golden’s thread on election night. I will be at Betsy Sweets victory Party.

[henster]

Google Trends show a close race between Janet Mills and Adam Cote with Eves and Sweet a bit behind, it's an imperfect measurement but is usually pretty accurate.

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=now%207-d&geo=US-ME&q=adam%20cote,janet%20mills,betsy%20sweet,mark%20eves

[MAINEiac4434]

Final thoughts on the race:

On the Republican side, it’s Moody’s to lose. That doesn’t mean he won’t lose it, as he’s run a horrible, gaffe-ridden campaign, but still. Mayhew is his biggest challenger. Fredette is DOA.

The Democratic race is wide-open between Sweet, Eves (my top two), Mills and Cote. The Dions and Russell are DOA. Sweet and Eves have endorsed each other as 2nd choices, and Eves has had a good week after defending Cote from Mills’ Emily’sList-funded attacks at the last debate. I think he will get many Cote 2nd choices because of that. I also think he’s going to get a decent amount of Mills 2nd preferences because he’s the only other one of the “final four” to have electoral experience, and I think that’s a big factor for a lot of Mills supporters. He’s played his cards well. Sweet has momentum, but I hope it isn’t too little, too late for her. Regardless, I’m incredibly proud of the campaign we’ve run. We started with no money and no name recognition, and we have a puncher’s chance of winning the nomination. This campaign has been the time of my life, and I wouldn’t have changed a thing. Forever #TeamSweet.

I still don’t want Mills to be the nominee. I think she’s the only one who could lose.

My final ranking:
1. Sweet, Elizabeth Ann
2. Eves, Mark
3. Cote, Adam Roland (in spite of my disdain for him, he’d Ben incredibly strong GE candidate)
4. Unranked (previously Diane Russell, but not after the campaign finance violations)
5. Unranked
6. Unranked
7. Unranked

[Horsemask]

For the record I’m not going to be partaking in this thread or Jared Golden’s thread on election night. I will be at Betsy Sweets victory Party.

Best of luck.

I'm ranking Sweet 3rd -- I know you lobbied me hard to put her 2nd, but both her and Eves have hopped Mark Dion for me.

I'll be here in the thread and will be commentating as much as I can throughout the night.

[Canis]

For the record I’m not going to be partaking in this thread or Jared Golden’s thread on election night. I will be at Betsy Sweets victory Party.

Best of luck.

I'm ranking Sweet 3rd -- I know you lobbied me hard to put her 2nd, but both her and Eves have hopped Mark Dion for me.

I'll be here in the thread and will be commentating as much as I can throughout the night.

So what will your rankings be?
Be sure to tell us about the sweet victory party I went to the KDL victory party and it was an amazing experience.

[Horsemask]

For the record I’m not going to be partaking in this thread or Jared Golden’s thread on election night. I will be at Betsy Sweets victory Party.

Best of luck.

I'm ranking Sweet 3rd -- I know you lobbied me hard to put her 2nd, but both her and Eves have hopped Mark Dion for me.

I'll be here in the thread and will be commentating as much as I can throughout the night.

So what will your rankings be?
Be sure to tell us about the sweet victory party I went to the KDL victory party and it was an amazing experience.

1. Cote
2. Eves
3. Sweet
4. M. Dion
5. D. Dion
6. Mills
7. Russell