As this is being written, it’s been a week since Maine voters went to the polls and gave us a result that both pleased and disappointed everyone. Among those deservedly disappointed were the pollsters who got it so wrong. Others who earned their disappointment were the pundits and politicians who took the vote of entire groups for granted and were so arrogant they didn’t even try to mask their contempt for the voters and taxpayers. For the rest of us, there were gains and losses and it’s our choice whether we wallow in disappointment at what was lost or cheer what was won.

I think it was Frank Luntz who characterized political ads which talk more about the opponent than the sponsor as typically being ‘losers.’ We all suffered a mega dose of ‘loser’ political advertisements this year and now that we’ve been blessed by their abrupt end we are being assaulted by resentful diatribes from those who relentlessly deplore that those who disagree with them had any success. Were these screeds simply the rants of inarticulate, hateful juvenile losers they’d be amusing in a pathetic sort of way. They aren’t. These are the beliefs of those who see themselves as so superior to the rest of us that they believe themselves fit to dictate because we just won’t make the right choices.

BDN headlines proclaimed that “Republicans will now taste their bitter harvest” and there would be “A rough ride for Mainers over the next four years of LePage.” Assertions are rife in blogs and comments that the national results are proof of racism, that the unemployment rate of 5.8 percent is good news, that the ACA is working because some folks are getting lower premiums, that Maine voters made a huge error by focusing on what Gov. Paul LePage did rather than what he said, and of course, that at least some people declined to vote for Michaud because he is gay. (If you enjoy being insulted at great length, see Edgar Allen Beem, Nov. 10, “The Universal Notebook*.)

Crystal Ganong** posted on Facebook:

“Less than 30 percent of the population voted, that’s not a majority. Also our system doesn’t count the popular votes, but the Electoral College. LePage didn’t win the popular vote, he won the Electoral College because of the gerrymandering of districts. Therefore, he was and is NOT the popular or majority vote; he is the result of a flawed system. The more you know…”

Crystal isn’t alone in citing the “one-third” statistic and attempting to call the election invalid because of it. Interestingly, these folks would have us believe that only progressive Democrats stayed away from the polls. The rest of what Crystal ‘knows’ is, in my estimation, testimony to the failure of government schools and especially the University of Maine in Machias.

So, just in case you also don’t know:

The Washington Post estimated 36.6 percent turned out nationwide. The turnout in Maine was 59.3 percent despite the election being only one day after a severe coastal snowstorm. Other states with participation rates of over 50 percent were Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Gov. LePage was elected with the most votes of any governor in Maine history.

I’ve been told by Republican poll watchers that when they saw results from Yarmouth and Jay were in, it was clear that the Governor was on his way to a decisive, broad-based victory.

Deceptive ads by politicians and outright lies by outside groups are not new. Outright lying by politicians themselves, subsequently attacking the electorate and suggesting that an election is invalid because not enough people voted your way are new to me. It is reassuring that the most egregious lies were told by those who lost here in Maine.

The coordinated national attacks on the electorate, especially when coupled with Jonathan Gruber’s revelations and Senator King’s humiliating response hopefully will foster even more rejection of the pseudo-elite-wannabe-dictators: It’s not a strategy I’d think likely to produce desirable results. Moreover, those fuming in disappointment would do well to recognize the extraordinary turnout in those states where they were rebuked in senate races and in gubernatorial races. Their losses were not because people didn’t care or because their message didn’t get out. The one thing Mr. Beem said that makes sense is that the voters did say government is the problem, not the solution.

Closer to home, despite “my side” losing virtually every local race along the coast, I prefer to celebrate Gov. LePage’s success as well as Bruce Poliquin’s and the change in the Maine Senate. I do hope it means we’ll see no more clown noses in committee rooms and we’ll find that ‘compromise’ no longer means Republicans’ unconditional surrender. At least, we can hope that for the next two years spending won’t measure accomplishment. I’ll also hope we’ll stop thinking of success in terms how many of our kids we export and how many of other states’ destitute we import. Maybe we can also stop talking about raising the minimum wage and expanding dependency to compensate for the jobs we exported through irresponsible taxation, abusive regulation and the pursuit of imaginary ‘green energy.’ Most of all, if we hear another word about how ‘stupid’ the electorate is, those arguing that experience the power of stupid people acting in large numbers.

*http://www.theforecaster.net/news/p rint/2014/11/10/universal-notebook-sourgrapes sore-loser-not-me/216939

**Crystal, according to her Facebook page, is a Massachusetts native who studied drama for 9 years at Machias before she became a stay at home mom in York, Pennsylvania.

Another View is a Maine Press Association award-winning column written by a member of a group of concerned citizens that meet each week to discuss issues of public interest.