GEORGETOWN — I have the good fortune of living half the year in North Carolina, where I teach at Duke University, and the other half in Georgetown, where my family goes back to the 18th century. It is in Georgetown that I enjoy Maine’s beautiful summers and write books about the last seven decades of our nation’s history.

For a long time, I felt proud of the politics of both my homes. In North Carolina, from the time of Terry Sanford forward, the state reversed its segregationist and reactionary politics and became, relatively speaking, a model of progressive government.

The same was true for Maine, as Republicans and Democrats alike worked together for the betterment of the state as a whole, looking out for all of its people, whatever their social or economic status might be.

Now, both states are on a path backward, invested in pitting the rich against the poor and politicizing the issues that divide us, rather than bringing people together in search of the common good.

In North Carolina, it started in 2010 when Republicans took control of the state legislature. Then two years later, a Republican governor was elected by a very small margin. Sound familiar? At this point, the state legislature was dominated by tea party politicians. They proceeded to turn North Carolina into an early-20th-century version of itself.

Taxes were cut for millionaires, while they were increased for people making on average $30,000 a year. More than half a million people were denied Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, even though the federal government would cover the costs. The education budget was cut, making North Carolina 48th in per capita pupil expenditure in America.

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Legislation on abortion clinics threatened to close all but one of 16 clinics in North Carolina. Worst of all, legislators there enacted voter ID laws that would result in slashing dramatically the number of blacks and Latinos who could vote, since 600,000 citizens from those communities do not have driver’s licenses.

The state’s downward spiral was horrific, and helped generate a massive protest by a group called Moral Mondays, which seeks to return North Carolina to its progressive past.

Many of us thought this could never happen in Maine. But it did.

In 2010, Paul LePage was elected governor with a little more than one-third of the votes of the citizenry – because more than 60 percent of Mainers split their vote between two liberal-leaning candidates. Just like North Carolina, a small percentage of Mainers elected a governor who would take Maine backward, rejecting years of political statesmanship by people like Sens. George Mitchell and Olympia Snowe.

Now Paul LePage is doing to Maine what the tea party is doing to North Carolina. LePage denied the expansion of Maine’s Medicaid program (MaineCare) to all the low-income individuals who would qualify for it under the ACA, once more at no cost to the state.

He called Social Security and Medicare “welfare” programs – giveaways – even though hardworking Mainers have spent their lives paying into these funds. LePage has also attempted to eliminate drug support for seniors, as well as vetoing legislation to fund nursing homes and to feed hungry students during the summer months.

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In Maine, as in North Carolina, tax cuts have benefited only the wealthy and the income divide is growing further by the day. One-fourth of all children in Maine under 5 years of age live in poverty, and students are finding it harder and harder to pay for college and to find a job. From senior citizens to our children, Paul LePage’s response has been to turn his back on the average citizen, while looking out for the rich and powerful.

Maine and North Carolina both have rich legacies to preserve: a commitment to the common good, protecting the workers that keep our state running and a concern for the welfare and well-being of the whole community.

As someone who splits his time evenly between two states, I have faith that my neighbors in Maine will learn their lessons from 2010 and not split the vote this time. It is time to unite behind the candidate who will restore Maine’s history of putting its people first.

I may live here only half the year, but I would give my whole vote to Democrat Mike Michaud this November. He believes in the common good of our state and will restore its legacy for future generations.

— Special to the Press Herald


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