Gov. Paul LePage is taking a vacation. Good for him. He needs it.

So do we. That’s both the editorial “we,” as in we media drudges who chronicle and comment on the governor’s adventures and misadventures, as well as “we the people” — the long-suffering citizens who look to their governor for leadership.

Additional Photos

Gov. Paul LePage testifies before the Appropriations Committee during a hearing on March 3 about his administration’s budget proposals. Staff photo by Joe Phelan

Even LePage’s most ardent supporters must be weary of his mind-boggling knack for igniting controversy, although they and he might argue that the controversy is manufactured by media types and political opponents who are determined to find fault with everything he says and does.

We disagree with that point of view, but it would be unfair not to acknowledge it.

The truth is, we are not dedicated to finding fault with LePage. We support many of his policy proposals, especially those designed to put Maine on a sounder fiscal footing and improve the state’s business climate. On occasions when we oppose his policies, our preference would be to simply say so and let it go at that.

But the governor’s penchant for ticking people off has skewed the course of political debate around these parts. LePage’s personality has all but displaced public policy as the primary focus of the legislative season.

So, as the governor heads off to Jamaica for a week of rest and recreation, we’d like to offer him some constructive advice: Stop it!

It seems so easy. When LePage is about to drop one of his rhetorical bombshells, he often looks as though he’s on the verge of changing his mind, as though he might let the moment pass and not say what he’s about to say. Sometimes, he even articulates his doubt: “My staff doesn’t want me to say this, but …”

So why say it? Why can’t he listen to his staff? Why can’t he listen to the voice in his head that seems to be saying: “Paul, don’t. Think how it will sound on the evening news. Imagine how it will look in a Page 1 headline.”

And later, after the damage is done, why can’t he take it back? Would it be so hard to say, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that,” or “I shouldn’t have done that.”

Is he too proud to admit a mistake? Too self-satisfied to know when he’s made one? Too combative to surrender?

Maybe, during a reflective moment in the sunshine of Jamaica, Le- Page could ponder how much easier his life would be if he avoided all this turmoil. How much easier his job would be if he weren’t constantly up to his eyeballs in controversy.

Come to think of it, we’re not advising. We’re just hoping.

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