Rivals cry foul over political ad claims Democrats object to GOP ‘distortions’ on state economy

AUGUSTA – Democratic Gov. John E. Baldacci’s re-election campaign staff and three of his party’s state senators were crying foul Thursday over a new television ad for Republican gubernatorial candidate Chandler Woodcock that hit the airwaves earlier in the day.

Claiming the ad – paid for by the national Republican Governors Association – was “riddled with inaccuracies and distortions,” Jesse Connolly, of the Baldacci campaign, and state Sens. Michael Brennan of Portland, Joe Perry of Bangor and Dennis Damon of Trenton called upon Woodcock to publicly denounce the 30-second spot.

There was virtually no chance of that happening.

“I don’t see what the problem is,” said Chris Jackson, Woodcock’s campaign manager. “If they think there are any inaccuracies, they should contact the RGA with whatever information they have that would substantiate their claims.”

The RGA ad – the second of a reported $200,000 media buy in Maine – begins by making four negative statements about state government and goes on to cite the sources for their statements.

The ad claims that Maine has the nation’s highest tax burden and the eighth highest gas tax, citing The Tax Foundation as its source. The ad refers to a $733 million state budget gap and cites The Government Performance Project as its source, and then points out that the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston had identified Maine as only one of two states to experience an economic decline in 2005.

The ad then points out Woodcock would “cut unfair income taxes, reduce the property tax burden and cap government spending.”

“Clearly this is an effort by people outside of Maine to shape the debate and shape it in a way that is not accurate,” said Brennan. “It’s very difficult for Maine voters to have the RGA come in and either give outdated information or distorted information.”

The Democrats said the ad – by implication – suggested the Maine Legislature had not reduced property taxes or capped government spending. In fact, Damon insisted that LD 1, passed during the last session, accomplished those goals.

Additionally, the three senators maintained that Maine municipalities realized property tax reductions this year through $280 million in additional school funding.

“That was the largest single increase in the state’s history in school funding,” Brennan said.

“The spending caps are in place and if the municipalities do not vote to override them, they are firm,” Damon said. “To say we don’t have spending caps is just a false statement.”

Perry said he didn’t care for Woodcock’s pledge to cut “unfair income taxes,” saying the message just wasn’t clear to him.

“I don’t know what that means,” he said. “How gratuitous. What’s the average person think about that? There’s nothing unfair about our income tax. They may not like it and Chandler may not like it, but it’s the one progressive tax we have that balances out regressive taxes like sales and property taxes.”

The Democrats also pointed out that while there had been a structural gap in the budget between projected tax revenues and ongoing state spending, the gap was eliminated in the last legislative session and the state now has a $150 million surplus.

“The ad suggests that we have a $733 million gap at this point and it’s totally false,” Brennan said.

Damon also said the state’s gas tax was actually the 15th highest in the country – not the eighth. The Democrats made no efforts to rebut the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s assessment of the state’s 2005 economic decline.

The Baldacci campaign’s Connolly said the entire broadcast was the work of those aligned with President Bush.

“This is nothing more than George Bush’s henchmen coming into this state thinking they can spend all this money with inaccurate facts,” he said. “It’s a clear symbol that Bush’s Republican Party wants to come into this state and influence this election.”

At the Woodcock camp, Jackson said the RGA had cited its sources and that Democrats were simply trying to respond in whatever way they could.

“They’re just trying to spin poor economic data,” he said. “At the end of the day, you can’t spin it. It is what it is.”