On Wednesday, Mainers, like all Americans, awoke to
a political landscape significantly different than what had existed the
previous day. But unlike many Americans, Mainers were largely
spectators to the tectonic shifts in the political landscape.And in
many ways, that bodes well for Maine. The call to “throw the bums out,”
went unheeded in Vacationland because Maine has a scarcity of bums.
Large-scale corruption, moral depravity, hypocrisy and blind allegiance
to the politics of fear and loathing are things that seem to happen
elsewhere. While there are Mainers on both sides of the aisle who may
disagree, most do not. We are proud of our Republican senators, both of
whom seem to understand they are in office to serve their constituents
and this understanding served them well as insulation against a tide of
disgust.

    In local races, incumbents also fared well.

    This should serve as a comforting reminder that
while Maine has its problems and many theories on how those problems
ought to be addressed, it is not all doom and gloom. This observation
is reinforced by Mainer’s wise decision to reject the so-called
“Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.” While TABOR’s critics may say it was the
politics of fear that killed the referendum, there is a more hopeful
interpretation: that Maine retains a fundamental faith in the system as
it exists and it is through that system that we can and will address
the issues of inequitable and inefficient taxation.

    Perhaps Maine’s insulation from charges of
corruption and avarice is the very personal relationship citizens have
with their government and elected officials. In many states,
politicians aren’t so much elected as hired. They manage their
citizen’s money with little curiosity on the part of those citizens
about what happens after they leave the polls.

    Mainers may be skeptical of their elected officials, but they are not cynical about their government.

    Many of the politicians we are sending to Augusta
campaigned against TABOR. They promised there are better ways to reform
our tax codes. People in South Portland and Cape Elizabeth seemed to
agree, but many remain skeptical. It is imperative that our
representatives do not let us down, or else that skepticism may turn
into cynicism.            
         –Ward Peck