Beacon Editorial Staff

With the Trump juggernaut gaining thrust and momentum propelling him towards the Republican Presidential nomination, it is amazing to see the wagons being attached to this horse in the form of endorsements.

This past week our governor endorsed Trump, stating to conservative radio host Howie Carr, “I was Donald Trump before Donald Trump became popular, so I think I should support him since we’re one of the same cloth.”

Congratulations Governor LePage on being overly modest in your self-assessments and evaluations. Let’s paint a clearer picture of this love affair.

Did you not address Republican governors on February 20th calling for them “to draft an open letter ‘to the people,’ to disavow Mr. Trump and his divisive brand of politics,” as reported by the New York Times on February 27th?

While flipping in such a short period of time warrants closer inspection, let’s put that aside and look at what you have aligned yourself as: a bully, misogynist, opportunist, who has to have it their way, as the profit margin is the only god.

Congratulations again. The full-time employees at Marden’s who lost health insurance when their hours were cut to part-time must be all too familiar with you as Trump before he “became popular.”

All of this speaks to character, and while it is unlikely that you or Donald Trump will change your manner of presentation and how you set policy, and as men and women set policy, it is easy to understand that it is character that sets the tone of policy.

Maybe those who have a true understanding of their self-interest and how those that write policy have a correlation with said self-interest will vote with the understanding of this equation.   

Which leads one to wonder why someone would support Governor LePage or Donald Trump to begin with. Neither can claim intelligence, independent financial success, nor camaraderie. Trump has had multiple bankruptcies, and many casinos, airlines, and mortgage businesses that have failed. Since he has no experience in politics, his private achievements and personality are under fair scrutiny.

LePage was raised in an abusive household. He fled at age 11 and was implored to go to school by neighboring families. His disdain for social services is interesting and could be analyzed as failure to see the forces that helped him in his own youth.

By gauging their histories, it would seem that Mainers and the American public are endorsing outspoken candidates that have little ability to govern or aid people in need, but who are self-proclaimed successes even when the evidence starkly contradicts these proclamations.

What each candidate has in common is vocality, the ability to make enemies, and national recognition for making sexist and racist statements without provocation. This, it would seem, is what a huge movement of voters are interested in.

During times of economic upheaval, voters have been radicalized. We are seeing this now in the presidential campaign with both parties. It is true that limited economic restraints on business, remember Wall Street bailouts and mortgage crises, have aggravated the disparities between most workers and the wealthiest people in our nation. It would seem that instead of wanting candidates who have political experience and economic plans, the people want big, racist, sexist personalities to be our leaders. One must wonder if this would prolong suffering instead of ending it.