I had always been told growing up that Maine politics was something different and special.  Contrary to other states, elections in Maine were viewed as civil contests of substance, generally pitting good people vs. good people, with tame attack ads, and mostly constructive, positive campaigning.

Yes, even in the most tame political environment, you will always find some sketchy things going on, but in Maine they were the exception, not the rule.  Rarely – if ever – would you ever see an ad like this, and if you did it would be roundly attacked as bitter partisan garbage.

The reasons for this were plentiful.

First of all,the candidates who run in Maine are less corrupt, and throwing mud at them makes little sense.  Earlier today I was trying to think of the last huge political scandal that erupted in the state of Maine – sleeping with interns, pay to play, trips to Argentina to see your mistress, stealing pennies out of the Shriner’s jar at the convenience store – but I simply could not think of anything.  Go search in Google, you won’t find anything either.

Maine has consistently ranked as one of the least corrupt states, politically.  We just don’t have “green balloons” type scandals happen here.  Maine pols are certainly not perfect, and there are always rumors about a particular ethical problem or seedy affair, but they never amount to anything.

Some of them probably should – but the larger point is that most people who seek office in Maine are down to earth folks who aren’t particularly evil.

Second, the media in the state is simply a different culture than you find in states like Massachusetts, California, New York or Illinois. For you baseball fans, the difference is like moving from the New York Yankees to say the Colorado Rockies.

The microscope you are under in New York is so intense that it borders on the absurd, while you could potentially get caught snorting cocaine off a hooker’s back in Denver, and none of the sports writers would even bother writing about it.  In short, the specter of the media spotlight is much harsher in some places than others.

In Maine, political reporting is light.  Much has been made about the decline in both bodies and raw coverage, with now only five reporters covering the Maine House of Representatives and Maine Senate – in the entire state.

But more than that, Maine political reporting has tended to subscribe to the pre-Nixon style of political reporting – that is, covering campaigns, horse races, ideas and debates, but staying away from personal scandals and issues that are viewed as outside of the scope of a politicians job.

I have little doubt they would cover something if it reached a certain threshold of public consciousness, but they simply do not chase down those stories.  Maine political reporting is much less tabloid and rumor mongering than most other states.

Third, there are simply no partisan generals that really whip up the hyperbolic, slanderous, mud-slinging activity of the populous like in other states.  Sure, there are talk radio hosts, but let’s be honest, there are no state wide icons, and most people who listen are tuning into national shows rather than local ones.

Maine simply does not have any state level Sean Hannity or Ed Schultz to stoke the fires and drive grossly one sided messaging.  The local talk show hosts that people do listen to are nice guys who people respect and engage in reasonable debate – they simply don’t throw elbows in the same way.

Fourth, the electorate is simply different.  Mainers are independent minded, respect reasonable, well measured candidates, and react very poorly to what they view as spite-filled partisan demagoguery.  Thus, much of the type of politics which traditionally thrives in other states will actually turn off voters here.

But, from where I am sitting, that is beginning to change, and the growth of the internet may be to blame.

Take, for example, the tone of conversation here on Pine Tree Politics.  Go to really any article about one of the candidates, and watch unfold the bloodbath.  What you will see is any number of the supporters of one candidate or another, unleashing a myriad of complaints about whatever candidate they choose to target at the time, often time descending into what can only be described as slander.  We hear personal attacks, rumors, unsubstantiated claims, character assassination, and broad assumptions made about everything from a candidates motivation to their beliefs.

It is hardly a phenomenon seen just here.  It can be regularly seen in politically oriented message boards, other blogs, email exchanges, and now on social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Indeed, some of the most vile, disrespectful and hate filled things I have seen said about Maine politicos has happened on these new mediums, particularly Twitter.  The level of discussion and “debate” during the fight over gay marriage, for example, was quite literally embarrassing.

Why?

Anonymity, the physical disconnect of digital communication, a focus on speed and reaction over substance and thought, just to name a few.

In Maine, politicians and political conversations used to happen person to person.  Candidates who did not meet voters and shake their hands got nowhere, and those politicians who succeeded were good at the retail politics of face to face hand interactions.  Saturating media markets with commercials didn’t get you any where near the response that marching in Fourth of July parades or going door to door personally would.

But this is now being replaced by the low attention span, stimulus response nature of online communications.  I can’t spend too much time bemoaning this as it is the backbone of my chosen profession, but none the less, it is shifting the focus of all political conversation in Maine to one that is more reactionary, more hyperbolic, less civil, and in virtually every respect, less nice.

Now the debate is being driven by anonymous web videos attacking a candidate, and the pit of doom that is internet comment sections.

I spoke with some friends of mine (in both parties) last week, and picked their brains about the state of the gubernatorial race, and almost to a person I noticed the poison that had infected our discourse.  Their attention was on the rumors, gossip, negative attacks and tabloid style conversations about the race, and virtually nothing else.

I grew up in Maine, and remember vividly the conversation that would take place before the growth of the internet.  Yes, they were partisan, and yes they were sometimes silly, but the level of animosity and the spread of superficial, unsubstantiated garbage was nothing like it is now.

I worry that such a course is making us lose sight of what politics should really be about, and in the process the thing that has made Maine politics special over the years – a respectful, reasonable conversation between candidates and voters that does not descend into a slimy mud-hole – is lost.

That only increases cynicism, distrust, anger and doubt, and in most cases, for no reason other than reactionary garbage that we used to reject.  But, we no longer sit face to face and talk about things in a sensible way, so the personal connection and the ability to reach a detente of sentiment is gone, which is sending our discourse into the sewer.

I know that politics is a dirty business, and even in the best of times in Maine, there have always been attack ads, negative stories, and undesirable political conversations – what I am lamenting is the emerging dominance of that type of attitude in our discourse, so that we can no longer have any sort of constructive conversation.

Indeed, just today the reaction to my very mild piece on Steve Rowe’s chaotic campaign – an article which was really nothing more than an examination of counterproductive campaign tactics from the point of view of a political operative and made no slanderous claim about Rowe (a man I find very intelligent and nice, actually) – set off a string of angry commentary and personal attacks on yours truly.

Is that really where we want to take conversations like this?

One of my favorite things in the world to do is call up one of my best friends from college – a Democrat of unimpeachable progressive bona fides – and talk about politics.  Somehow we are always able to talk about the problems in our own party, the negatives of our own candidates, and vice versa, without being either offended or descend into an argument.  It is old fashioned, reasonable, Maine-style political conversation – fair, deferential and above all, substantive.

I’m afraid we are collectively losing our ability to talk to each other like that.  I hope that as this campaign moves forward, we can all try to keep that in mind, and give Maine an election to be proud of.