The race for governor in Maine just got named the second-most important contest of the 2013-14 cycle. When last we checked in on Maine's incumbent Republican, Governor Paul LePage, he was refusing to meet with the new Democratic leadership of the state legislature. Then an effort by independents in the legislature to meet with him ended when LePage "flew up like a jack-in-the-box and ran out of the room and slammed the door."
So how's it going now, Maine? The local press reported that as of Friday, Governor LePage has promised to veto any and all bills from the legislature until they OK his plan for dealing with outstanding debt to hospitals. The hospitals part of the story is complicated. The veto part is not. By way of the Bangor Daily News:
“I don’t care if it’s my bills. I’ll veto my own bills,” LePage said on the George Hale and Ric Tyler show on WVOM radio.
LePage's new plan for governing prompted the satirical Sardine Report -- "Maine's Fishiest News Source" -- to gin up a story about legislators passing a bill to "make Paul LePage king of the universe." Again, that's parody. The Sardine Report is to Maine as the Onion is to America. But it might be that parody is the perfect response.
About my headline: I'm not sure a governor can filibuster a state, so if you've got a better verb and it's family friendly, hit the comments, please.
