Posted by Bruce Bourgoine who blogs at Dirigo Blue.
Tea party inspired Republican nominee, Paul LePage, for is skipping a public forum for candidates for Maine Governor to do a minor fundraiser with the Refounders tea party group. This will be the third in a row public forum event that LePage is missing.
From today's Kennebec Journal in Augusta:
LePage is also not scheduled to attend a debate at the University of Maine at Machias this Thursday, or a forum hosted by the Coastal Journal on Aug. 26 in Bath.
LePage cannot make a third forum now on August 26 in Bath. Instead of participating so that a large group of mainstream Maine voters can hear about his positions and plans on how to lead our state, Paul Lepage due to a "scheduling conflict", will once again be raising a few bucks with members of the Refounders and extreme tea party group. Turns out he will be less than 30 miles away:
Details:
Time: August 26, 2010 from 5:30pm to 9:30pm
Location: Lost Valley Ski Area
City/Town: Auburn, Maine
Event Type: fundraiser
Spend and evening with Paul and Ann LePage-Maine's Next Governor at Lost Valley Ski Area. Hor's d'oevre Buffet with cash bar. Tickets $20 in advance or $30 at the door.
While formal invitations went out to all the candidates on July 25, LePage was verbally invited in person in May and he initially agreed to attend. Additionally, plans to have the local access TV in Bath, Maine to broadcast the forum have been shelved because Bath Community TV will only do so if all five candidates attend. So not only is LePage's absence denying voters a chance to hear from him, residents in Bath that cannot make it to the forum will now not have a chance to hear from any of the candidates.
August 26. Paul LePage's priorities are clear and prompts everyone and the Maine Democratic party to ask: