Bangor Daily News Endorses Eliot Cutler for Governor

The Bangor Daily News, Maine’s most-read newspaper, has again endorsed Independent Eliot Cutler for governor. The paper first backed Cutler during his 2010 bid.

The editorial urged voters not to fall into the trap of the wasted vote syndrome, stressing that it is not a “mistake” to vote for a candidate that you support…

As this election season winds down, voters have been bombarded with television ads, and they’ve watched the three candidates for governor deride, question and high-five each other at forums and debates. What they’ve seen is a Democrat, Mike Michaud, who struggles to grasp and articulate policy details or explain his thin record of accomplishment in Congress, and a Republican incumbent, Paul LePage, who continues chasing the demons of welfare fraud and illegal immigration without offering forward-looking policies on what matters most to Mainers — creating jobs and improving the economy.

Voters deserve better. They have that better choice in independent Eliot Cutler.

Polls this election season show Cutler running a distant third behind Michaud and LePage. So many who voted for Cutler in 2010 are caught in a bind, saying they don’t want to make a “mistake” again and cast a vote that effectively returns LePage, a pugnacious leader with an unusual contempt for consensus-based governing, to the Blaine House.

It is not a mistake to vote for the candidate who is most qualified for the job. It is not a mistake to vote for the candidate who has put forward the most detailed and thoughtful solutions to some of Maine’s most pressing problems — such as a high property tax burden and a stagnant economy. And it is not a mistake to vote for a candidate who will restore serious policymaking to the governor’s office and ensure government works on issues that are most important to Maine’s future.

Read the full endorsement at the Bangor Daily News website.