Cutler Fires Back

After writing my initial story on the accusations by the LePage campaign of an un-named individual digging through the Mayor’s trash and the response from the Cutler campaign to the insinuation that they were in any way involved, the machinery of campaigns has sprung into action to respond.

I spoke with Ted O’Meara on the phone about the matter earlier this evening.  He objected to the accusations as well as my portrayal of them, and gave me his take on the issue.  He repeatedly denied that Cutler or his campaign had anything to do with this incident, and expressed a belief that the attention of both myself and the media should turn to the source of these accusations, rather than the content of them.  We should be asking who is “peddling” this and why, not giving credence to the rumor he said.

He also denied that his language was “cleverly chosen” in the release.  To bring more clarity to the conversation, I asked him to be more specific – I was uninterested in if the Cutler campaign had “paid” anyone, or if there was a “private investigator”, I wanted to know if the Cutler campaign had any tapes in its possession or if anyone in any capacity had anything to do with any kind of trash picking.

His answer was an unwavering no.  “No” to having such materials or engaging in such behavior on any level – paid, unpaid, volunteer or any other such variation.  I ran out of ways to ask him, so at this point Mr. O’Meara’s answer appears to be very clear and as I said in my first article, until and unless any additional details came out which would suggest that his campaign did go dumpster diving or was poking around video of Mayor LePage, our assumption has to be that they are being straight.

I do not want either of these articles to appear as if they are accusations on my part – the intent was to talk about the buzz circulating, where it came from, what it was about, and why.  I’m here to talk about what people are talking about and provide context and analysis.  The rest is for us to judge based on our own interpretation.

The Cutler campaign was not done, however, with a phone call from O’Meara.  Eliot Cutler himself submitted a letter he claims to have sent to Mayor LePage, addressing this issue head on:

June 15, 2010

Dear Paul,

The last time I was the victim of campaign dirty tricks, in Ed Muskie’s 1972 presidential campaign, Richard Nixon and his plumbers were the culprits. I don’t want to believe that you and your staff have taken that same Nixonian low road, but it sure looks that way tonight.

Ted O’Meara has worked in Maine politics for more than 30 years, and his integrity has never been called into question. Notwithstanding Ted’s earlier denial of any involvement whatsoever, neither you nor anyone on your staff called me or my staff to ask whether there was any truth to the frankly laughable rumors that I had ordered searches of your garbage or that I was seeking out Waterville City Council videotapes — perhaps because these “rumors” in fact were started by your own campaign operatives.

Had you called, I would have told you the truth: I have not employed private investigators, ordered searches of your garbage, or sought to examine the now notorious videotapes. The opposition research that we do undertake regarding other candidates will be part of an honest and above-board effort to point out to Maine voters the real and important differences among the candidates for governor.

Whatever our philosophical differences, Paul, I have told people all over our state that during the course of the campaign I had found you to be a fair-minded and straightforward person. I hope that you will put an end to the trash coming out of your campaign and put to rest my doubts about my earlier impressions.

This isn’t the kind of politics Maine people need and deserve.

Sincerely,

Eliot

A strongly worded letter, no doubt.

One thing needs to be understood, however.  My original piece did not come from the LePage campaign.  They were not the ones who “peddled” the story to me.  In fact, no one peddled it to me.  They did not push this story, shop it to me, or otherwise ask me to circulate this information at all.  I want to be absolutely clear about that – the only involvement the LePage campaign or Paul LePage had in this story was the initial, vague Facebook posting that accused “some one” of dirty tricks and stealing his trash.

At that point, I began to dig for facts and more information.  I received O’Meara’s response to rumors that had already swirled around Maine before I had even spoke one word to anyone within the LePage camp.  I got perspective and information from other sources who claimed to have knowledge of the situation.  In terms of speaking with LePage’s people, I was only able to confirm things that I had already heard (that the Mayor’s people believed that Cutler was behind it).  But that contact and inquiry was initiated by me not them, and they were very reluctant to go into any details.  In short, they were not shopping or peddling this story – at least not to me.

None the less, with the wording in Cutler’s letter to LePage (and based on my conversation with O’Meara), it is clear that his campaign is suggesting that LePage’s team is fabricating these rumors and spreading them to the Maine media and blogosphere, and that this entire episode is a coordinated attempt to gin up a “boogieman” to “whip up his supporters”.

I can only speak for myself and say that if the LePage campaign was trying to push this story, they most certainly were not doing it to me.  One thing is clear, however – something strange is going on somewhere here.