State Republicans are unhappy with John Baldacci because he met with Fidel Castro this week and promoted trade. We wondered about the trip too after the governor made a point a few years ago of talking about the importance of human rights in regard to trade with China. But there’s no reason to ignore the legislative role in the trade deal.

In a press statement Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Paul Davis said, “I read that the governor wants Maine to be the leader in normalizing relations with Cuba. He should leave federal policy to the federal government.” Sen. Davis might have spoken more forcefully about this in 2002, when lawmakers of both parties approved a joint resolution urging Congress to normalize trade relations with Cuba. That resolution was sponsored by Republican Sen. Richard Kneeland of Easton.

Republicans are trying to create a distinction between Maine quietly trading with Communist countries and making a show of it. There is a small point to this, although using press releases and statements to the media to accuse the governor of grandstanding at an event they otherwise support seems a little odd. (House Minority Leader David Bowles similarly blamed the governor for a trip to China, a trip the governor never made.)

And the distinction between quietly trading with an abuser of human rights and doing so forthrightly, as other governors have done, falls into the realm of nitpicking. Our argument is that the governor should be consistent: Either trade is acceptable with countries that have poor rights records or it isn’t. This is a more complicated question than it first appears.

The reaction and counterreaction to Gov. Baldacci’s trip are, at least in part, about next year’s race for governor. Both sides, so far anyway, are within the bounds of political spin, even if the subject itself is so serious.

The most creative comment about the trip came from Sen. Davis, who said, “If President Bush had met with Castro, the Democrats would be screaming about Castro’s horrific record of human rights violations. It is one more example of the common double standard in politics.”

That’s fairly impressive – creating a hypothetical situation, then blaming the opposing party for its behavior in it. This is going to be a very long gubernatorial race.