If You Like Gov. Christie, Meet Governor LePage

From a friend on mine in Maine, Dr. Tom Shields, also a former lawmaker there:

TO ALL OF MY OUT OF STATE FRIENDS - OUR NEW GOVERNOR HAS NOT BEEN IN OFFICE ONE FULL MONTH, THE LIBERAL PRESS IS AFTER HIM, AND HE COULD CARE LESS. REPUBLICANS HAVE NOT BEEN IN FULL CONTROL OF STATE GOVERNMENT FOR ALMOST 40 YEARS, SO THERE IS A BIG MESS TO CLEAN UP. GOVERNOR LEPAGE WILL DO IT.

Subject: God bless Maine's new governor - Let's get some facts straight!

The new Maine Governor, Paul LePage, is making New Jersey's Chris Christie look like an enabler. He isn't afraid to say what he thinks, and judging by the comments heard at the cigar shop and other non-political gathering places, every time Gov. LePage opens his mouth, his popularity goes up.

He brought down the house at his inauguration when he shook his fist toward the media box and said, "You're on notice! I've inherited a financially-troubled state to run. Observe...cover...but don't whine if I don't waste time responding to your every whim for your amusement."

During his campaign for governor he was talking to commercial fishermen who are struggling because of federal fisheries rules. They complained that President Obama brought his family to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park for a long Labor Day holiday and found time to meet with union leaders, but wouldn't talk to them. LePage replied, "I'd tell him to go to hell and get out of my state." Media crucified LePage, but he jumped 6 points in the pre-election poll.

The Martin Luther King incident was a political sandbag which brought him national exposure. The 'lame stream' media crucified him, but word on the street is very positive. The NAACP specifically asked him to spend MLK Day visiting black inmates at the Maine State Prison. He told them that he would meet with ALL inmates regardless of race if he were to visit the prison. The NAACP balked and then put out a news release claiming falsely that he refused to participate in any MLK events.

He read it in the paper for the first time the next morning while being driven to an event and he went ballistic because none of the reporters had called him for comment before running the NAACP release. He arrived at that event and said on TV camera, "if they want to play the race card on me, they can kiss my butt" and he reminded them that he has an adopted black son from Jamaica and that he attended the local MLK Breakfast every year that he was mayor of Waterville. (He started his morning there on MLK Day.)

He then stated that there's a right way and a wrong way to meet with the governor and he put all special interests on notice that press releases, media leaks and all demonstrations would prove to be the wrong way. He said any other group which acted like the NAACP could expect to be at the bottom of the governor's priority list!

He then did the following, and judging from local radio talk show callers, his popularity increased even more: The state employees union complained because he waited until 3 p.m. before closing state offices and facilities and sending non-emergency personnel home during the last blizzard. The prior governor would often close offices for the day with just a forecast before the first flakes. (Each time the state closes for snow, it costs the taxpayers about $1-million in wages for no work in return.)

LePage was CEO of the Marden's chain of discount family bargain retail stores before election as governor. He noted that state employees getting off work early could still find lots of retail stores open to shop. So, he put the state employees on notice by announcing: "If Marden's is open, Maine is open!"

He told state employees: "We live in Maine in the winter, for heaven's sake, and should know how to drive in it. Otherwise, apply for a state job in Florida!"

Governor LePage symbolizes what America needs...refreshing politicians who aren't self-serving and who exhibit common sense!