Political Roundup

Republican 1st CD candidate Dean Scontras made a great move yesterday to gain some media attention. He offered to pay for the state and federal gas taxes for all motorists fueling their cars in Manchester, ME. This did not cost the campaign much money at all (it paid the taxes for about 100 motorists), but it got substantial press coverage. During this campaign cycle, a number of campaigns nationally have used this gimmick to get media attention. Most of those campaigns have offered to pay in full for motorists to fill up, not just for their taxes. The Scontras campaign, however, is broke and could not afford to do that. Quick below for the full story:

http://www.sunjournal.com/story/268653-3/MaineNews/Candidate_gives_gastax_rebates/

Continuing on the Republican race, the Portland Press Herald had story today about the TV debate on MPBN between Dean Scontras and Charlie Summers. The story focuses on the differences between Scontras and Summers on their views about Iraq. The problem is that this story epitomizes how lame the mainstream media has been in covering the race for the 1st District. For one thing, there is virtually no difference in Summers' and Scontras' positions on Iraq. Furthermore, this story was probably written in twenty minutes...

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=192395&ac=PHnws

The Democratic race is seeing a lot of sniping between the candidates in the closing days of the campaign. Ethan Strimling, in particular, seems eager to pick fights with his fellow candidates. This Portland Press story details the back and forth and wisely points out that no independent polling has been done in this race. It will be refreshing to see voters head to the polls without having to look at polls beforehand. Interestingly, the outcome of the race very will could hinge on this lack of polling. Mark Lawrence and Michael Brennan should be non-factors in this race, but many of their voters might not realize they have no shot of winning. Mr. Cote stands to benefit most from this scenario occurring. In any case, here is the story:

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=192244&ac=

Two new campaign commercials now on the airwaves in the 1st CD race. Ethan Strimling has released a new advertisement touting a bill that he passed in the State Senate to provide property tax relief to Mainers. This ad is effective, especially since none of the other candidates have ads airing that talk about the mortgage crisis. Having all the different people talk highly of Ethan is great, but does anyone else feel like Ethan looks like a dope in these commercials?

Strimling Ad- "My Castle"



The other new advertisement comes from the Cote campaign. It is very simple, but also very effective for a fairly unknown candidate like Cote. The ad highlights the endorsement of Cote by the Portland Press Herald and then basically repeats his qualifications from the campaign's first two TV ads. The endorsement of a major paper like the Press Herald is a great catch for Cote because many voters will now feel more comfortable with him. He is an unknown, and some people are probably wary of voting for him, even if they like some of his message. The endorsement serves as validation for him.

Word on the street is that many moderate Republican voters are crossing over to vote for Cote in the Democratic primary. State Senator Karl Turner was one of them.

Cote Ad- "One Democrat Stands Out"