Ok, got busy and did not take advantage of the web media available to me. I recently did a 40 day fast and was sorry near the end that I did not journal or blog about the experience sooooo… I plan to catch up here and then be better about blogging the experience of being a Maine House member (Republican) Seat #103 -Raymond, Frye Island, parts Poland and Standish. I hope this is a place that we can share ideas and topics important tom Maine and to our country! The last weeks of the race were busy. My opponent Jim Stephenson worked very hard and seemingly ran on similar issues that I did such as jobs, lower taxes…. given there was one debate in 6 months, it was important to get out and about to ensure you could differentiate yourself from another candidate. I did attend a few debates alone in Lewiston and got to both practice my speaking and heard other candidates, mostly D’s. I was surprised how these incumbents did not seem to see the public disdain for them. They bragged about tax increases and one surreal discussion had a politician saying he drove the turnpike and felt it was unfair the people on 295 did not pay a toll, he was going to work on it??? I was blessed that the Maine Republican Party did not jump onto my campaign as the democrats had for Jim. Jim found out he had about 10 mailings out as opposed to the 4 or 5 he knew of. On election day, he was approached a few times by people saying he mailed too much…again he did not do it all. One was actually very critical of me, it stated: I seek to close the Dept. Of Education (maybe but not yet 
; I see climate change as a myth (not a myth but I see God as in control, we should be good stewards of the earth but that might mean cutting down a tree); that I was against local and diversity (I ran on the slogan keeping control local-diversity is great as long as we all root for the USA!); that I claim health care is not a right but it is a service (got me there); and that I reject a UN treaty on Children (the UN is doing so well on slave trade) and a law of the Sea Treaty (never heard of it!). Having shared all that, the Repubs did give me decent advice and helped me pass out info I had approved.
On Election day you run (as a candidate) a marathon. You stand outside for 13 hours smiling and shaking hands but you only can say I am Mike McClellan and thanks for voting. Jim had a local business a few years back and that helped him greatly. I certainly was helped by the Republican onslaught. My time as school bd-select bd-chamber of commerce executive hopefully helped. My sense that day was that many more people in line we saying hi to Jim or his wife Judy. Raymond had more than twice as many absentee votes so I assumed that helped me. Ultimately, I won Poland by 150, Standish by about 40; Frye Island by 30 and (both our home court)Raymond by a bit more than 100. A little more than 300 votes.
I am surprised how excited I am to be in this position, clearly by God’s will and grace. A lot has happened since; read the next posting on the rest of catch up!
God Bless You!
Mike
Things are begining to heat up as this political season moves toward November 2, 2010. I was at a county republican meeting last night and one of the candidates spoke of having been running for over a year and a half. That’s hard to believe but for the higher offices, it is a fact of life. I have to pick up on individual visits and will soon get friends involved with phone bank calls.
It certainly is a good year to be republican and especially conservative! People are excited about this election on our side and can not wait to vote. The People are starting to stand up and ask important questions like:
Why can’t God be invited back into our society?
Why does Government, with such a poor track record, think it can do anything well…let alone healthcare reform, insurance, the economy, ecology, I could go on.
Typically, it is the other party who does the grass roots thing. This year our numbers are very high and their numbers ranking party enthusiasm are at all time lows. We can thank our President for that, however it is going to be important for republicans to have a startegy so as to stop any more damage before election day and in the days after until a new group takes over.
This is a great time to contact your representatives from Collins and Snowe to the local house member. They are not used to getting contacts on issues and sometimes 10 or 20 phone calls can blow them viagra. A great example is the rally in Portland, Maine yesterday to end don’t ask don’t tell. Even before you discuss the merrits of gays in the military, this is a process issue. A process was set up, the military was asked to create a report on how the change would affect morale. Seems fair given we have soldiers in two wars right now (yes, we are still fighting in Iraq). The report is due December 1st. Why would politicians (Harry Reid) bring this up only 2 months away except to try to get votes for the election? And why would they attach it to the military approprations bill (the funding for our troops)? In fact they also attached a bill for young illegal (theres that word again) aliens to be given citizenship if they are working or in college. So our representatives would rather support sending an illegal immigrant with college scholarships then a student who is a student, perhaps your on child!
Wow, get me going. Key take away is that this is your country, stay informed, stay involved and vote on November 2nd.
As tviagray use to say on Saturday Night Live, “what’s all this fuss about…” In this case we are talking about the Tea Party members. Now, I need to confess I have not attended a Tea Party event to this point. However, I am highly enthusiastic as to their ability to meet and to continue meeting. Democrats seem to see them as evil and the entrenched Republican leadership believe they are supporting chaos (well, I suppose that is true.) The real answer is not the average of the two, these people are simply out there trying to take back their country. Why is that bad unless you are entrenched and noone has questioned (too loudly) your work and actions to date. The Tea Party members are people (like you and I) who love this country and are not going to allow it to go down without a fight. They believe in God, they believe this is a great nation, they believe we are a positive force in the world.
We have seen recent elections, including this past Tuesday, were greatly influenced by Tea Party energies. Now, most “in the know” people did not expect this group to have any success and certainly not the wins they have created throughout the country this year. These same “experts” believe that the energy will die down and these republican primary winners will all lose. How’s that go in MA, VA and NJ?
Chris Matthews (MSMBC Commentator) blew me away with his segment on Tea Parties last night. Don’t worry, I did not watch Chris (apparently he use to be more balance to the point he filled in For Rush Limbaugh in the past? What happened there?). I heard this on a radio discussion. He was well spoken (and a long segment) but in a sense he told the nay sayers that this movement was real. He said that he had been waiting his whole life for the people to stand up and throw the “bums” out (not a quote here). His surprise only was that it was the Conservatives and Moderates who were doing it! How can I top that?
God Bless You!
I recently attended a church gathering on a Sunday night and ran into a friend in trouble. He is a visitor (legal) into our country and while in northern Maine, ran into boarder patrol. They stoped him and his family and asked for his papers. He did not have them and so they held his wife while he drove 3 hours to drop his kids off and get the documentation. Given the lateness and his already long day, I ended up driving him back to the boarder patrol area to resolve the issue. My friend continually showed no animosity towards the police as we talked, he felt they were doing their job. I later learned that this was a very serious thing and that my friend could have been sent out of the country so to that end, so far so good. When we arrived towards midnight, the staff at the stop area were tired and some annoyed at the time it took him to drive home and back. (they sent him…) I also perceived a lack of respect to him as they tried to explain the situation to me and I pointed out that my friend spoke good english. We retrieved his wife and were on our long ride home soon.
This event made me think hard about immigration in the USA (and especialy with the AZ law in the news.). We are clearly the one country people want to come to. My understanding is that the immigration process to become a citizen is long and difficult. This is not a bad thing as we should only acept the best. Would you not do so at work in hiring, when picking a sports team players or when bringing in a repairman to your home? The recent idea that Portland, Maine will give non citizens the right to vote is another example of feel good politics. It sounds nice. If you can vote, what incentive do you have to buy into the country, to become a citizen? It is a slipery slope and one I pray Portland voters do not approve.
In terms of the Arizona law, what part of illegal do opponents miss? Arizona is one of the most unsafe places in the country and kidnapping in particular is one of the highest rates in the world. The AZ prison system is primarily ful of illegals. The people of AZ. clearly want change (you can believe in ) and our President is Suing them? Is it really just because he assumes making the illegals citizens, they will want more public welfare monies and vote for the party of give your money away to others, the Democrat Party?
What happened to politicians who loved the country? Regan and Tip O’neil yelling at each other every day and then having a beer at 7pm? Immigration is an important issue for this time. Take note.
God Bless You!
Don’t mean to sound so serious but was thinking about one of the areas of running for office I had not considered when I began. I receive letters from groups of all kinds almost daily, looking for my keen political insight. If I somehow give them the correct answers they seek, they will bless me with their endorsement. What a deal…. However they appear to be leading me to answers and so the questions are written very yes/no; black/white. There tends to be no room for discussion and my answer either means I am for them or against them. The problem is that most of todays issues are not so black and white. The one good point to this is I feel as I progress toward a possible term in Augusta, that I do not owe these groups anything. This may get interesting, stay tuned!
God Bless
Mike
Thanks for checking into my new blog! I am running for the Maine House Seat in District #103 that was recently vacated. I was asked to run by local Republicans and won a primary in June. District #103 includes Raymond, Frye Island, parts of Standish and Poland. District #103 is a great place to live and so it was an easy decision to make given the initial support. I hope this blog will give me an opportunity to connect with you and to share my core values and beliefs. My website is www.mikemcclellan.com and you can learn more about my candidacy there or by seeking out my Facebook page. It also is an easy decision to run given the events of the past year (federal) and past 40 years (Maine). For many years, Maine has primarily been run by one party and I think people FINALLY are asking why we have allowed the Democrats to keep control. It appears that there will be many changes in government in November. I hope you will support me to be part of a positive change!
God Bless!
Mike
