March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Brennan, McKernan skirmish in hot debate> Gubernatorial candidates focus on their records

PORTLAND — Republican Gov. John R. McKernan and Rep. Joseph E. Brennan, the Democratic challenger, tangled Tuesday in their first televised debate — a lively confrontation that at times bordered on a finger-pointing shouting match.

Broadcast Tuesday night on WLBZ-TV in Bangor and WCSH-TV in Portland, the debate was taped Tuesday morning at the Portland television studio, where a large group of reporters gathered to cover the first major event in the hotly contested campaign.

McKernan and Brennan, a former two-term governor, clashed heatedly over their respective records as Maine’s chief executive.

While the debate moderated by Pat Callaghan of WCSH did not break much new ground, it did illustrate the strategies of the two campaigns.

McKernan, the incumbent, has been dogged by a slump in the state economy and accompanying state budget problems. He claims to be the only Northeastern governor able to stave off a budget shortfall without raising taxes.

McKernan, trailing Brennan in early polls, has been waging an aggressive campaign more characteristic of a challenger than an incumbent.

In Tuesday’s meeting, however, it was Brennan who looked more relaxed, practically laughing at times as he aggressively put McKernan on the defensive.

Asked after the debate if he thought McKernan hadn’t been aggressive enough, the governor’s press secretary, Willis Lyford, said, “I’ll readily admit the governor wasn’t rude enough. Brennan got on one issue and tried to beat it to death.”

Asked the same question, McKernan said of Brennan, “He is a clever politician and he is able to misrepresent the facts.”

McKernan said it would be up to the voters to decide who won the debate.

“We’ve heard a lot of criticism, but not very much substance from Brennan,” said McKernan. “He has no plan.”

Brennan said he felt “extremely good” about the debate and, “It was a very strong performance for us.”

The candidates clashed mainly on handling of the state budget when the economy slows, on troubles at Augusta Mental Health Institute and on their willingness to raise taxes.

Both men refused to take a “no-new-taxes” pledge for the next four years, but they argued over whether taxes already had been raised.

Brennan said McKernan had raised taxes on video rentals and boats, but McKernan said those taxes were not raised to make up for a potential $210 million shortfall.

Brennan said by cutting state aid to schools, McKernan had forced property taxes to go up.

“The fact is you have raised taxes, and I don’t know why you try to deny it,” said Brennan. “Are you saying you didn’t raise any taxes?”

“Of course not,” McKernan replied, again arguing that he didn’t raise the income- or sales-tax in order to balance the budget.

McKernan chided Brennan for a 1983 decision to repeal retroactive tax indexing, which he called a $30 million break for taxpayers, after voters had approved it in referendum.

As for Brennan’s claims he wouldn’t have over-estimated state revenue the way the McKernan administration did, McKernan scoffed, “I can’t believe you would have been the smartest man in America, the only man in America to see this coming.”

Brennan said McKernan was continuing to be over-optimistic, predicting 14 percent revenue growth, and that the next governor would face “a fiscal mess.”

“It’s time to be upfront, straightforward with the facts,” Brennan said.

McKernan responded, “We don’t have a fiscal mess in Augusta. That’s what they have in Massachusetts. We have tight financial times. Maine handled this better than any other state in the nation.

“Criticism is easy, but there comes a time when you must say what you would do differently.”

On the problems at AMHI, which lost federal accreditation and was investigated after clusters of patient deaths, McKernan blamed Brennan (and previous governors) for “20 years of neglect.”

But Brennan said, “When I left, all these institutions were accredited … You’ve managed to get AMHI back under court supervision. This is a giant step backward.”

McKernan said his administration had made longterm investments in things like mental health, education, worker training and highways that Brennan had failed to make.

The pair also argued about who had made the more effective effort to spur job creation.

Brennan cited the expansion of Bath Iron Works into Portland, which was subsidized by a $15 million bond issue that was controversial at the time, and his work to bring Lemforder Corp. to Brewer, Spencer Press to Wells and Burrelle’s Clipping Service to Presque Isle.

But McKernan said his administration had done a better job on economic development and he said to Brennan, “Talk to the people who brought Lemforder to Brewer, and they’ll tell you how little help your people were to them.”

Michael Aube, president of Eastern Maine Development Corp., who was a key player in the Lemforder negotiations, is a Democrat who has announced he is backing McKernan’s re-election.

On a more timely topic, the proposed widening of the southern portion of the Maine Turnpike, a project pending before the Board of Environmental Protection, Brennan clarified his position.

Brennan said he’s not opposed to the widening, which has been criticized by environmentalists. But he said he wanted to abolish the Maine Turnpike Authority, combine its functions with the Maine Department of Transportation, and then look at the transportation needs of the entire state.

“If this (the Turnpike widening) is the top need, then I say, `full-speed ahead,’ ” Brennan said. “Fourteen feet of pavement isn’t that big a deal to me, one way or the other.”

McKernan, who supports the widening project, said, “That position is a copout. We don’t need to study this any more. Fourteen feet of pavement is a big deal, when people have to sit in traffic.”

McKernan also said the MDOT and its commissioner, Dana Connors, who has served both governors, already favored the Turnpike project.


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