Last week, Paul LePage appeared in an interview with News Center Maine where he claimed that he has changed, emphasizing “respect” and “civil discourse,” after more than eight years where he belittled lawmakers, disrespected Maine people, and denigrated the state.

But LePage isn’t fooling political pundits, with News Center Maine’s Political Brew analysis this weekend expressing skepticism and questioning whether LePage has really changed.

  • Betsy Sweet: “Even as he turned in his (nomination) papers, he showed such venom for people who he believes, wrongly, are lazy people who are collecting state government assistance and not working. That indicates a lack of respect.”
  • Phil Harriman: “Many of us were trying to impress upon him when he was in office the first time how important being respectful to others is. Whether he can maintain that composure during the rigor of a campaign is going to tell the voters all they need to know."
  • News Center Maine: “Sweet and Harriman agreed that LePage should acknowledge some responsibility for setting a divisive tone during his tenure in office.”

This is why the Bangor Daily News has reported that while “Paul LePage wants to ‘clean up’ his act,” “Plenty of the old LePage is still there,” while other Maine people ask “Do we really want to go down that rabbit hole again?”

But even worse than his disrespect and vitriol for Maine people are the actions he took over the course of his two terms as Governor. For eight years as Governor, LePage hurt Maine’s working families by obstructing an expansion of MaineCare, forfeiting nearly $2 billion dollars of federal funds, and shifting the tax burden away from the wealthy and onto more vulnerable Mainers. Recent headlines about his campaign show that, just like his divisive rhetoric, his disastrous policy agenda hasn’t changed:

  • Maine Beacon: “LePage income tax plan punishes poor while enriching wealthy Mainers, advocates say”
  • Bangor Daily News: “Maine Republicans will target Janet Mills’ abortion-rights expansion if they gain power in 2022”
  • Maine Public: “LePage hands in petitions to run for governor, while criticizing Mills' plan to send Mainers $500”
  • Bangor Daily News: “Paul LePage sells small-government COVID-19 response as Maine cases rage"
  • Maine Beacon: “LePage admits Medicaid expansion ‘good for Maine,’ but still wants cuts to program”

“Too many Mainers have endured Paul LePage’s hateful rhetoric, and even more have been set back by his disastrous policies,” said Drew Gattine, Chair of the Maine Democratic Party. “From lying to the press, to smearing Governor Mills, to pushing his failed policies, LePage’s campaign has shown that at the end of the day, he’s just the same guy who hurt Maine’s working families with both his rhetoric and his agenda. Governor Mills didn’t need eight years to figure out how to treat people with decency and respect or to enact policies that invest in and empower Maine people. We can’t let LePage take our state backwards again.”

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