WMTW’s In The Arena panel of political experts discussed how Maine voters are processing the news and what this means for Bobby Charles’ already struggling campaign.
Transcript
Terry Stackhouse:
Back here again with our In the Arena panel. In the race for governor last week, Bobby Charles’ sister said she is not supporting his bid for the Blaine House.
Anita Charles says that she will vote for Hannah Pingree. She criticized her brother’s stance on abortion, which she called divisive rhetoric.
Phil, will this change the minds of any would-be Charles voters? She had some strong words this week.
Phil Harriman:
Yeah, there’s no question that this is a blow to the campaign, and voters who were leaning towards his message are going to take a second look.
Terry Stackhouse:
Does this harm his election bid here?
Phil Harriman:
It does, and the question is, does this breaking news imperil his campaign, or does he bounce back from it? Acknowledge, hey, we see things different politically, but she’s my sister. I care for her. I love her. I’m moving on with my campaign.
Terry Stackhouse:
Ethan, what did you make of her remarks here? And is this really going to rock the boat in the Charles campaign?
Ethan Strimling:
I don’t know how much it rocks the boat. It’s definitely news. It’s definitely newsworthy.
I mean, I think what she wrote was very well written, and it really describes a Bobby Charles that I think even the other Republican candidates were talking about. How divisive he is, how unaccepting of people with differences.
I think the personal stuff about his not being there for her. I’m not sure how deep that goes, but it does say something about his character. So I think it has some legs.
Obviously, they have differences in politics, so that matters in this conversation. But to write something this scathing, that was very rough.
Terry Stackhouse:
All right, we’ll see you guys again coming up shortly in our show today here on Total Maine.
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