You know what Maine Republicans need? More Jimmer.
Jimmer Fredette, the sweet-shooting senior guard for Brigham Young University, led his team to the NCAA basketball tournament’s Sweet 16 by offering nothing but offense. He attacked his opponents’ weaknesses, exposed their deficiencies and scored at will. Jimmer-mania rocked the country.
There’s a problem with Jimmer’s game, however — he can’t play defense. His game was scoring, dictating pace, advancing an agenda of victory through action, not reaction. Jimmer never tried to undo the other team’s game plan; the other team made stopping him its game plan.
The Maine GOP has no Jimmer Fredettes.
As a team, the Augusta Elephants have been playing defense so long, as the minority party, they’ve forgotten how to play offense. The party has made rolling back its signature move, not moving forward. And frankly, it’s not working.
Last week marked the passing of the first 100 days of the administration of Gov. Paul LePage, probably one of the most entertaining three-months-and-change in Maine politics for generations.
The governor punctuated this milestone by giving the GOP-controlled Legislature a grade of “F” so far.
“I went on vacation last week because I had nothing to do,” LePage told a gathering of the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce, according to the Sun Journal. “I’m waiting for legislation. I cannot do anything until the Legislature acts. And we need action.”
No disagreement here, governor.
House Speaker Robert Nutting responded by questioning whether the governor understood the legislative process, and noted that the Legislature has approved two supplemental spending packages so far. Deliberations about the governor’s more contentious two-year budget are ongoing.
LePage’s comments and Nutting’s response are the yin-yang of governing.
The system is not designed for swift motion, despite the natural human instinct for decisive action. Yet this spiteful exchange shouldn’t mask the hard truth for Maine Republicans: What have they done in three months?
The answer is, well, not much. The agenda from the LePage administration has been reactive — clipping red tape, undoing unfavorable regulations, taking down murals. And Republicans in the Legislature can point only to crack-patching spending bills when challenged to say what’s been done.
Some may call this unfair, because the Legislature has pushed ahead legislation. A bill to allow one-armed men to carry switchblades, for example, moved swiftly.
On Friday, a committee approved allowing concealed carrying of guns in the State House. Whoopie pies also have been big.
Only last week, however, when the Taxation Committee reported out its $203 million reworking of Maine’s tax code, has something resembling the electoral mandate received by the governor and the majority party emerged from the State House. On the surface, the plan seems sound.
Unfortunately, the plan is partisan.
The Democrats on the Taxation Committee have a separate idea, and the panel’s independent, the respected Richard Woodbury of Yarmouth, has his own plan. The growing tension between the executive and legislative branches does not help secure its future.
Plus, there’s the Jimmer thing. For the first 100 days, Republicans have been incapable of playing offense — putting forth a plan and passing it. The taxation plan is a chance to start changing that, as debate moves forward on the governor’s budget, of which the plan is part.
This is not an appeal for Republicans to win victories in Augusta. We’re uninterested in winners and losers from a political perspective. Rather, we want good ideas advancing through the Legislature and signed by the governor, in a timely fashion, to improve the lives of Maine’s people and businesses.
Right now, this isn’t happening. The party that swept to victory pledging to stimulate job creation and cut Maine’s spending has spent its tenure fighting with political opponents and with each other.
For the good of Maine, that must stop over the next 100 days.
During the NCAA tournament, fans of Jimmer Fredette held signs that said “Romney-Fredette 2012,” as the best Republican hope to take back the White House.
While that pairing is a fantasy, there’s an underlying message for the members of the GOP in Maine.
To be successful, having a little Jimmer could go a long way.
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