2nd District hopefuls air views on jobs, health care

MACHIAS – Although the Republican and Democratic candidates vying for the open 2nd Congressional District seat sat in no particular order at the debate Wednesday evening at the University of Maine campus here, the party lines were crystal clear.

With the June 11 primaries fast approaching, the plethora of candidates looking to replace U.S. Rep. John Baldacci on Capitol Hill looked to differentiate themselves from their rivals within their own party, but also, at times, gave a preview of the November’s general election.

While the well-attended forum at the UMM performing arts center in Powers Hall was at all times civil, it did include its share of grimaces and head-shaking. The candidates did get in their jabs at one another, especially on the subjects of health care and jobs, two issues likely to shape the fall election.

“I certainly hope we wouldn’t have Congress do for America what the Maine Legislature has done for Maine … in terms of business,” said Republican Kevin Raye, the longtime chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe. He was responding to Democrat state Sen. Susan Longley’s assertion that Washington would do well to emulate Augusta – where the Legislature has more often that not been controlled by Democrats – especially in its efforts to increase access to health care and public financing of political campaigns.

Like all of the candidates, Longley, a Liberty lawmaker, spent a good part of the evening talking about health care.

“It’s emerging as a perfect storm,” said Longley, the Senate chairwoman of the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee, who urged lowering the eligible age for Medicare to 55 and allowing others to buy into the system.

The impetus of the storm may well lie in Maine’s aging population, the fourth oldest in the nation, according to Republican Timothy Woodcock, a former Bangor mayor and former aide to then-Sen. William Cohen.

“This is traceable back to the weakness of our economy,” said Woodcock, who called for regional alliances with lawmakers representing other rural districts in the Northeast.

“It is a national shame that we do not have universal coverage,” said Democrat Sean Faircloth, a former state senator from Bangor, who like many in his party wants a national health care system.

The idea didn’t sit well with some in the other party.

“I’d rather get a bill than die on a waiting list,” said Republican Stavros Mendros, a state representative from Lewiston, citing Canada’s well-publicized problems with its system.

“I don’t see anyone dying on waiting lists in Germany or France,” shot back Democrat David Costello, a former U.S. foreign assistance officer. He called the lack of a single-payer system the “greatest failure in public policy in the last 30 years.”

Wednesday’s debate was not all about health care, with the candidates also expounding on the 2nd District’s weak economy.

Many of the candidates linked joblessness with drug abuse in Washington County. They espoused better education as a solution.

“You can’t work in Manhattan without an education, no matter how fast your Internet connection is,” said Democrat Lori Handrahan, from Sorrento, in response to Mendros’ claim that better technology would go far in solving the district’s economic worries.

On the subject of the economy, Democrat Michael Michaud, the Maine Senate president pro tempore from East Millinocket, said he would favor revisiting the North American Free Trade Agreement, which he said has proven problematic for some Maine businesses.

Republican Richard Campbell, a former state representative from Holden, said he, too, wanted to champion the interests of small business.

“They’ll all say they’re for small business, but I’ve been in it for 30 years and I can tell you they’re not in support of small business,” said Campbell.

Democrat John Nutting, the state senator from Leeds, did not attend.