I’ve lived in six states. I’ve maintained a level of voter vigilance in all. Nowhere have I seen the level of contention that has characterized the past few years of Maine’s political climate.

Almost every day we have Gov. LePage headlining the news. Nowhere else has the governor of a state (Ohio, New Jersey, Connecticut, Wisconsin, North Carolina) garnered so much media coverage.

So we have “Front-Page LePage” showing up almost daily as the feature of media news. How absurd is that? Governance (like umpiring or refereeing) should be quiet and competent rather than annoying and confrontative.

I’ve looked through months of news reports. As a writer by profession, I value the descriptive power of action verbs – they are the stuff of great writing.

When we look at the activities of Gov. LePage, we see the following verbs: “bullied,” “ranted,” “attacked,” “condemned,” “rebuked,” “belittled,” etc. We don’t see verbs such as “encouraged,” “supported,” “engaged,” “opined,” “negotiated” or even “governed.” How sad is this situation?

Contacts with friends out of state confirm that our governor has made Maine not a talking point but rather a laughing point.

Our governor’s desire to be on the front page would be laudable if it were for reasons that advanced the standing of our state. But because his wish for publicity is related to his wish to see his name in print, it’s despicable.

Glen E. Rainsley

Appleton

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