In a new video released today, Maine Democratic Party Chair Drew Gattine tells the full story behind the menacing and profanity-laden voicemail he received from Governor Paul LePage six years ago today. In the video, Gattine speaks about the events that led up to the voicemail, the immediate aftermath, and what the incident says about LePage’s ability to effectively govern the state. According to Gattine, “We know the kind of leader Governor LePage was. He was rude, he had very little respect for the facts, his interactions with the Legislature, even people in his own party, were incredibly difficult. And it was very hard to get anything done when [he] was governor.”
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Gattine makes clear that, in contrast, Governor Mills has been a breath of fresh air: “Governor Mills is collaborative, she wants to hear from everybody. She’s very, very smart on policy, and she is tremendously oriented toward detail and facts…Have I ever gotten a voicemail from Gov. Mills? I‘ve probably gotten a couple voicemails from Governor Mills. Believe me, they’re very different.”
The video comes just one week after Paul LePage once again made national and international headlines for threatening a political opponent, this time a Maine Democratic Party staffer. In the video, Gattine makes clear that the recent incident shows that LePage hasn’t changed: “The way that he talks about Maine and Maine people is just, it just drives people away…I mean, I don’t see any evidence that Paul LePage has changed at all.”
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