Recently, there was a media firestorm over the liberal activist group Maine People’s Alliance launching an attack on Rep. Dale Crafts, R-Lisbon Falls, for having “no spine” and failing to “stand up” to Gov. Paul LePage.

Rep. Crafts is handicapped and has used a wheelchair ever since a motorcycle accident left him paralyzed 26 years ago.

MPA’s communications director, Mike Tipping, did the right thing by apologizing for this insensitive political attack.

But this is just the latest in a long line of outrageous and distasteful attacks by the MPA against people with whom they disagree.

In 2012, MPA activists stormed the State House, drowning out a multiple sclerosis awareness event in the process. More recently, they have been accusing Republicans of murder for turning down Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion.

One of their operatives was caught stealing from an elderly woman while going door to door.

Advertisement

They flooded one state senator’s phone lines so heavily with automated calls that he couldn’t take an expected call from his wife’s oncologist to hear long-awaited results regarding her cancer diagnosis.

MPA operatives frequently chase down, corner and scream at Republican state lawmakers in a manner that defies any sense of common decency. They claim to be a grass-roots organization, but their canvassers are paid and often from out of state.

There will always be groups like the MPA, and certainly they have a right to do what they do. But it’s important to note they are thoroughly intertwined with the Maine Democratic Party.

I call on House Speaker Mark Eves, Senate President Justin Alfond, U.S. Reps. Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree, and Maine Democratic Party Chairman Ben Grant to reassess their relationship with this increasingly belligerent organization and denounce their latest attack on Rep. Crafts.

Sen. Garrett Mason

R-Lisbon Falls

 


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.