Steven Biel: Bruce Poliquin brought shame on himself and the state of Maine when he switched his vote on the floor of the House of Representatives to allow workplace discrimination against gays and lesbians. If Margaret Chase Smith had a declaration of conscience, this was Bruce Poliquin’s abdication of conscience.
Lance Dutson: You’d think a party that loves government so much would have figured out how it works by now. You’re distorting congressional procedure to mislead voters. The truth is that Bruce voted in favor of this amendment, and it passed.
Steven: Nonsense. The amendment failed after Poliquin and six other Republicans were whipped into switching their votes. First he voted for it, then he voted against it, and by the end of the day he was telling local newspapers that he was for it all along. He’s like the weather in Maine — wait five minutes and it’ll change again.
Lance: Bruce and his colleagues voted against the first amendment because it was poorly constructed. Once a new version was offered that ensured it wouldn’t trample on the Constitution, he voted for it. That’s the lawmaking process — he held out for a better bill.
Shenna Bellows tried these same false attacks distorting Susan Collins’ voting record. Shenna was so confused by the workings of Congress that she ended up having a press conference on the wrong bill.
Steven: Lance, he changed his vote on the exact same bill within five minutes! There were no changes to the bill — the only thing that changed was that Paul Ryan, who held a fundraiser for him just the night before, told him to switch his vote.
Lance: Again, Bruce voted FOR the equality amendment. And it passed. The time in between his “no” vote and his “yes” vote resulted in better language. He improved the bill, and everyone agreed — including the Democrat sponsor. That’s called being a good congressman, and it’s in keeping with the Maine tradition of highly skilled legislators.
Steven: So let me get this straight. He voted for it before he voted against it before he voted for it again? Should we call him now to see if the RNC has told him to change his position back again?
And for what it’s worth, his “improvements” were so tortured that members of his own party killed the entire bill rather than let it become law.
Lance: These are just more false Democratic attacks based on deliberate obfuscation of what actually happens in Congress. It’s a losing strategy, especially in a political season where authenticity is at a premium. The 2nd District electorate is already suspicious of Emily Cain’s Washington, D.C., campaign-in-a-box. This kind of misleading double-talk will only exacerbate her problem.
Steven: Poliquin’s problem is that this isn’t just one vote. Take ObamaCare — after running on a platform to repeal it, he voted to keep it in place the first chance he got, and then flipped again.
It took him months to take a position on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, and his waffling on renewal of the Export-Import Bank cost Bangor dozens of good-paying jobs because General Electric couldn’t wait for him to make a decision.
For crying out loud, he can’t even decide what district he lives in. Poliquin lived in the 1st District until Mike Michaud’s seat opened up, and he decided to move up north.
Lance: Please. Emily Cain is the last one who should be talking about D.C. party bosses. She’s making the same mistake that so many other losing candidates have made, becoming so intoxicated with the D.C. apparatus that she’s turned over her campaign to soulless cubicle jockeys who run 20 campaigns at once from party headquarters in Washington.
The bottom line is that Democrats are trying to have it both ways — criticizing Bruce for allegedly being anti-equality and then criticizing him for voting for the equality amendment. It doesn’t even make sense. Bruce is serving his constituents well, they know it, and this D.C. double-talk isn’t likely to change that.
Steven: I think it’s obvious to voters that Poliquin isn’t serving his constituents at all. He’s serving his donors and the Republican leadership. But with any luck, by this time next year the only decision he’ll be making is whether to move back to the 1st District after losing re-election.
Steven Biel is former campaign director for MoveOn.org and president of the Portland-based political consulting firm Steven Biel Strategies. Lance Dutson, a principal of Red Hill Strategies, is a Republican communications consultant. He has served on the campaign teams of U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Kelly Ayotte, as well as the Maine Republican Party.