I oppose the expansion of gambling in Maine, including the construction of casinos and additional racinos, for two important reasons:
My campaign is all about helping to create productive, sustainable economic activity, jobs and incomes that benefit the people of our state. Gambling doesn’t do that. Casinos are just a vehicle to deliver profits from gambling to out of state interests, and the people who stand to lose the most money are Maine citizens, not visitors.
People come to Maine for our quality of life and our quality places. Offering more gambling won’t build our brand and help to differentiate Maine from other places. In fact, it simply will mask and dilute the magic that draws people to Maine.
Economic development needs to be about identifying our core competitive advantages and pursuing a focused strategy to invest in those advantages in order to create jobs, incomes and opportunities for Maine people – like the one that I have put forward here: “Rebuilding Maine: Investing in Our Competitive Advantages.” Casinos enrich a few at the expense of many. They are a sign that we are giving up on ourselves and our state, and I will not do that.
I support the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, and I respect Maine’s longstanding tradition of responsible gun ownership and use. I also support the current law requiring background checks on firearms purchases from licensed dealers.
I am pro-choice. I respect those whose religious and personal beliefs lead them to conclude that abortion is morally wrong, but I come down on the side of a woman’s right to choose based on her beliefs and the advice of her physician. Abortion is one of the most difficult and divisive moral issues of our time, and I hope that we all can find common ground in working together to prevent unwanted pregnancies in the first instance.
Eliot Cutler, Independent candidate for Maine Governor, recently sat down with Derek Viger from Augusta Insider to discuss the State of Education in Maine. The complete conversation is listed below in 4 parts:
Eliot recently sat down for a talk with Derek Viger from Augusta Insider about the “State of Education in Maine.” Below are a 4 video clips in which he covers some of the key issues facing the Maine education system:
John Avlon, senior political columnist for The Daily Beast, writes an opinion piece for CNN on the Independent movement in America, which is now the “largest and fastest growing segment of the American electorate.”
Below are two excerpts from the CNN piece with quotes from Eliot:
A CBS/New York Times poll released last month found that 42 percent of Americans identify themselves as independents. Registered independent (or unaffiliated) voters now outnumber registered Democrats or Republicans in 10 states, including Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Maine.
Now that a new USA Today/Gallup poll shows approval of both parties near all-time lows, the time might just be right for a new generation of independent reformers….
While appearing on Pachios on the News, Eliot discusses his experiences as Associate Director for Natural Resources, Energy and Science in the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from 1977 to 1980.
While working at the White House, Eliot was responsible for approving and cutting programs that represented a significant portion of the federal budget.
In an article today, CQ Politics asks whether or not now is the time for Third Party and Independent candidates to become serious players in the upcoming November elections. Below is an excerpt about the growing influence of Independents in New England, with mention of Eliot:
In Maine, Independent Eliot Cutler looks like a very credible candidate in a contest that now, some two months before the state’s primary, boasts a field of candidates that is almost large enough to deserve its own ZIP code. The winner will replace retiring Gov. John Baldacci (D), who won re-election four years ago with 38 percent of the vote.
A native of Maine who served on the staff of former Sen. Edmund Muskie(D) and then in President Jimmy Carter’s Office of Management and Budget, Cutler was a partner in the Washington, D.C., powerhouse law firm of Akin Gump Strass Hauer and Feld.
Cutler rightly points out that Maine has not been reluctant to elect Independent governors — in 1974 James Longley won the state’s top job as an Independent, and Angus King won two terms the same way, in 1994 and 1998. The last major party nominee to win at least 50 percent of the vote in a Maine gubernatorial contest was Joseph Brennan in 1982.
While at the Maine Forest Products Council gubernatorial forum, Eliot discusses his experiences as Associate Director for Natural Resources, Energy and Science in the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and how that informs his current vision for the North Woods:
Eliot spoke at the Biddeford-Saco Rotary Club about why Maine needs to focus on and invest in its competitive advantages. In this clip, Eliot talks specifically about Maine’s higher education and how we can re-structure it to deliver better results:
