Through The Conservative Prism 2018

In the last gubernatorial race, I published a series of articles reviewing the candidates for governor entitled “Through the Conservative Prism.” It is my intent to publish one overview of the Republican gubernatorial candidates under the same title. The primary race comes down to two contenders, Garrett Mason and Shawn Moody, in my opinion, and I will explain why.

First of all, Ken Fredette, with all due respect to his talent and ability, has all but been eliminated from the race. His sheer will and determination to stay in the race are commendable in some respects, but his campaign has failed to gain any traction. Mr. Fredette understands politics and he should know that the honorable and common sense thing for him to do now is withdraw and allow his supporters to align themselves with stronger candidates.

Mary Mayhew started out as the front runner in some polling. Scandals from DHHS mishandling and neglect of child abuse situations has all but derailed her campaign. The spotlight from investigations has revealed even more troubling trends under her leadership. If by some strange twist of fate Mayhew would win the nomination, these swirling clouds of accusations of negligence would bury her in the general election. In my opinion, Mayhew should withdraw also.

One of the standards I use in judging a candidate for public office is to never believe anything a candidate says while running for office. Look at their record. This should be applied to all, especially Moody.

The basis of Moody’s campaign is that he is not a politician, but an outsider ….. except … .that he was appointed to public office by the Governor, which makes him ….. a …… politician and this is not the first time he has run for office, so he’s a politician. He asserts that he is an outsider because he is the only one who has worked in the private sector, but so have all of his opponents whom he claims have not. Mayhew an administrator, Fredette a lawyer, Thibodeau in construction and industry, and Mason in construction and an administrator for professional sports.

I’m not sure it is good policy for a future governor to pick and choose which job professions are legitimate and which are not. Moody has differentiated himself from his opponents in one respect. He is the only one who has built his campaign on a complete lie. He is a politician, He is no more an outsider than anyone else, and he is no different than his opponents in both those respects.

Now his record is troubling in its duplicity. He has very strong friendships and ties with green energy interests yet claims he is for the everyday hard working people whose businesses and home budgets are being crippled by green energy mandates and subsidies. He claims he is for the traditional family and family values but has in the past talked about instituting his own new social values. What exactly are those?

He claims to support gun rights but at recent sportsman show posted pictures touting his support “for this blue collar issue.” The natural born right to self defense is not relegated to a blue collar. It is an every collar issue and this shows a troubling trend of a politician trying to adjust on the fly to the issues in an effort to get elected.

Moody is a good businessman. Obviously, Gov. LePage has tapped him to be the third and fourth term of his administration, as most of LePage’s staff are on Moody’s campaign team. My concern with Mr. Moody is that his campaign rhetoric does not match his past behavior on many issues.

Mason is the wild card. For much of this race, he has been discounted because of his youth. Yet, continually he has shown himself to the steady hand and the adult in the room. In all of the issues, in contrast to Mr. Moody, Mason’s record is consistent. His conservative belief system, instilled in him from his youth, has guided his legislative actions as well as his personal. On family, on fiscal issues, on gun rights, and on issues of the Constitution and liberty, Mason has a steady consistent record of defense that speaks for itself.

Campaign rhetoric means nothing if does not match your record. There is too much doubt that hovers around the other three candidates. Mason’s record is clear and consistent. It is for these reasons that The Maine Conservative Voice endorses Mason to be the Republican nomination for Governor of the State of Maine.