Candidates for governor step up campaign attacks
Three candidates vying for governor
Election Day is two weeks from Tuesday and the political parties and campaigns are in the middle of an all-out advertising assault on mailboxes, telephones, televisions and computers of voters.
Click here to watch Paul Merrill's report
The furious marketing has people from both sides of the aisle crying foul.
Candidate Profiles: Race For Governor
Republican Gov. Paul LePage's re-election campaign is trying to discredit retired Maine National Guard Brigadier Gen. Don McCormack, who appears in an ad for Democratic Rep. Mike Michaud.
"He apparently liked the governor enough to want to be part of his administration, and the governor chose someone else, and now he's in a Michaud campaign ad," said Alex Willette, LePage Campaign spokesman.
The Michaud ad touts McCormack as a lifelong Republican, but LePage campaign staffers say McCormack has donated to Democrats.
The Michaud campaign is accusing Republicans of dragging McCormack's name through the mud.
"He served his country with honor and distinction and he deserves better," said David Farmer, Michaud campaign spokesman.
Another spokeswoman for Michaud's campaign says the fact that McCormack donated to a Democratic candidate in the past doesn't change the fact that he's considered himself a Republican his entire life.
She also questions the legality of the LePage campaign releasing personnel information about a former state employee.
Democrats are also blasting Maine's Republican Party for sending out campaign mailers that seem to prop up Independent candidate Eliot Cutler.
"The only way Gov. Paul LePage is elected is if the voters who don't support his reelection are split," said Farmer.
"The mailer just points out where each candidate stands and I think one thing about the difference between Eliot Cutler and Mike Michaud is Mike Michaud doesn't even know where he stands," said Willette.
LePage has said that Cutler's existence in this race could help him secure a second term in the Blaine House.