When Mike Michaud introduced President Obama five days before the 2014 election, he remarked that Gov. LePage is “the best politician I’ve ever seen because he knows how to use issues, like welfare and immigration, to divide us and play off our fears.”

It was one of more perceptive observations Michaud offered during the campaign and still rings true today. LePage continues to use welfare and other issues to divide and politicize – not with the intent of governing but with the goal of dominating the next election cycle.

The governor will not appear on next November’s ballot, but the prospects for his legacy certainly will. If Republicans are unable to seize control of both legislative chambers, LePage’s desire to transform Maine into a national conservative archetype will remain tantalizingly beyond his grasp.

That’s why everything the governor does this legislative session is scene setting for the 2016 contests. Legislators are playing a game of checkers – and, to their credit, largely attempting to govern – while the governor is playing a longer game of political chess.

In his first term, LePage rewrote the rules and expectations for a sitting governor. The conventional wisdom held that a serious politician intent on winning re-election couldn’t talk like a schoolyard bully, ignore the press, take shots at his own party and wield power with gleeful disregard for protocol and even the legal and statutory limits of the office.

But LePage ignored the conventional wisdom and handily won re-election, growing his support by 10 percent and tallying more total votes than any candidate in over 30 years.

None of that is lost on LePage. In fact, because of the decisive outcome, he’s a better, more confident and disciplined politician in his second term than in his first. Not a better governor, mind you, but a better politician.

LePage ran for re-election on welfare reform, tax cuts and lowering energy costs. He’s making little progress on any of those issues and some of his policies – including tax and budget reform, right-to-work and withholding voter-approved bonds – are even encountering stiff resistance from within Republican ranks.

But while LePage is losing legislative battles, many of his proposals aren’t actually crafted or intended to win passage. These bills are created to reinforce a narrative that the governor is a champion of smaller government, fiscal responsibility and working class voters. Enactment is beside the point.

Put another way, the governor is forsaking a measure of policy relevancy this session in an attempt to secure legislative fealty in the 128th.

A case in point is the governor’s proposed constitutional amendment to eliminate the income tax by 2020. Passage would require a two thirds vote in the legislature as well as ratification by the voters at the ballot box.

The legislation has zero chance of passage in Augusta and the governor offers only vague notions of how he might restructure a state budget torn asunder by a 50 percent decline in revenue.

That’s why the constitutional amendment is not a serious proposal. It’s a political instrument – a cudgel designed to beat and defeat Democrats in 2016.

And when it comes to LePage, that’s not an idle threat. The governor has shown a remarkable ability to fashion the state’s political dialogue, influence public opinion, and rally working class and rural voters behind policies and candidates that frequently undermine their own economic interests.

LePage’s posturing is a cautionary tale for Maine Democrats who only recently found their voice with the Better Deal for Maine budget proposal. But even with the Better Deal, Democrats are still operating from a defensive crouch, lacking both a compelling long- term counter-narrative and a convincing public champion.

Yes, 2016 is not 2014. It’s a presidential year where turnout and the electorate generally favor Democrats. And ballot questions – including legalizing marijuana, raising the minimum wage and a potential citizens’ initiative to eliminate the income tax – will each impact LePage’s ability to take the state House and hold the Senate in unpredictable ways.

But if the fundamental dynamics of 2014 remain in place – with Republicans, led by the governor, appearing strong on economic issues while Democrats appear muddled and weak – it’s entirely possible the governor and legislative Republicans could make deeper electoral gains.

If LePage successfully ushers in a conservative, acquiescent two-chamber legislative majority, he’ll prevail in the longer political game only he seems to be playing.

Untethered from any political calculus beyond legacy, you can rest assured he’ll make the most of it.

Michael Cuzzi is a former campaign aide to President Obama and manages the Boston and Portland offices of VOX Global, a strategic communications and public affairs firm. He can be reached at:

mjcuzzi@gmail.com

Twitter @CuzziMJ