Phil: For those who were unable to soak in the excitement of the first gubernatorial debate this week, would you like to fill our readers in on what transpired?

Ethan: Gov. Paul LePage was relaxed and passionate. Mike Michaud showed strong leadership and had the best closing argument of the three. And Eliot Cutler was smart and creative in his policy. No straight-up winners or losers, but all-in-all an informative exchange.

Phil: I have to agree. Although I might say that LePage was perhaps the most memorable. For a guy who seemed pretty uninterested in the debates, he actually looked like he was enjoying himself.

Ethan: He sure does wear his emotions on his sleeves.

Phil: And the facts. He was ready and prepared to jump on every questionable fact/liberal interpretation Michaud made. And boy did he make a bunch. From talking about the number of uninsured that would be covered by MaineCare expansion to the average age of farmers, Michaud needs to do a little more homework next time.

Ethan: Actually, LePage is the one who has to do his homework. According to the BDN fact checker, Michaud was correct on both MaineCare and our farmers.

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Phil: Except he wasn’t clear that we won’t end up with the same problem Michaud helped create the last time MaineCare expansion occurred – $500 million in unpaid hospital debts.

Ethan: Michaud helped create? Those unpaid bills occurred when I was in the Legislature. Michaud was already in Congress by that time.

Phil: To paraphrase Grace Slick, “If you remember the 1990s, then you weren’t there.” Michaud supported expansion when Angus King was governor. So, what stood out to you about Cutler’s debate style?

Ethan: Clearly he was prepared and well-spoken. As I said, he has a creativity about policy that is always thought-provoking. His idea of buying Verso Paper is out of the box and something all the candidates should consider. And, as predicted (since virtually all of Cutler’s 2010 support has shifted to Mike), he fired most of his criticism at Michaud. But none of it really stuck and Michaud was brilliant at staying above the fray. He never once took the bait.

Phil: The problem with his Verso Paper argument, is that one week he said the government got too involved with subsidizing East Millinocket and the next he says the government should socialize an entire operation. But that debate aside, don’t you think the harpoon stuck when Cutler stated “Mike, you’ve worked across a lot of aisles … but you have never created a single job, and you’ve never managed a business, ever.”

Ethan: It was a good line, but Michaud’s strength lies in his ability to work across the aisle and his being a working guy, not a corporate executive. Cutler basically affirmed that for everyone.

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Phil: Or what about the laser Gov. LePage shot at Michaud’s claim that he read the entire Affordable Care Act yet didn’t know the federal government would only pay 60 percent of the costs to expand MaineCare, not 100 percent?

Ethan: Well, again, LePage was wrong about that. But more importantly, I don’t think LePage does himself any favors by highlighting how unwilling he is to provide health care to tens of thousands of people. Even Cutler, LePage’s “high-fiving” buddy, was deeply critical of the governor’s decision to leave those people in the cold.

Phil: A place where I think Cutler shined was his criticism of LePage and Michaud on energy and manufacturing. First, pointing out the hypocrisy of Michaud campaigning with Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick who blocked natural gas from coming to Maine and former President Bill Clinton who is the “father of NAFTA,” a trade deal Michaud has opposed heartily. And then Cutler went after LePage for the Cate Street deal, while pleading with him not to enable Verso Paper to separate the power-generation capabilities of the mill. Agree or disagree with the statements, I thought it was a pivotal moment for him in showing how he would govern differently.

Ethan: The problem for Cutler is that he is so far behind that he needs to create a very different dynamic on stage. He has to completely differentiate himself. Even if these exchanges were good, he simply didn’t break through to become a viable alternative.

Phil: Well, according to the recent Pan Atlantic poll, he may be more viable than you think. Patrick Murphy now has the race 39.3 for LePage, 33.6 for Michaud, 19.5 for Cutler.

Ethan: Not really. Pan Atlantic, which is one of the most accurate firms in Maine, has Cutler in exactly the same place as he was six months ago, but he is now even further from the lead (20 points down, as opposed to 18 in April).

Phil: While Cutler may be further away from the leader, so is Michaud. That said, this poll was taken before the debates, so maybe Cutler has risen even further.

Ethan: Every poll since this one has shown Cutler settling back to around 15. But Murphy proves what I have been saying for a few weeks: Cutler now appears to have no path to victory, but if he gets close to or above 20 percent, LePage is the odds-on favorite to win.

Phil: All polls really say is that tomorrow is a new day for candidates to sway the undecided.


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