Everyone has been dancing around the whispers of “Les Otten” and “the failure of American Ski Company”, hesitant to engage, or really hammer him on the subject.  Well – maybe not everyone – but the candidates, for sure have been avoiding “taking off the gloves” regarding this subject for the entirety of this race (something I view as a mistake on their parts).

It has been interesting to watch, because in most states with robust and competitive political cultures (and probably more importantly, aggressive media), Otten would have been torn to shreds about American Ski Company for months.  We’d have seen attack ads, microsites, candidates bringing it up in speeches, and investigative journalism done on the subject.

Maine, for good or for ill, has a weak political media presence, and a political culture that makes candidates fearful of going negative.  I have personally talked to multiple Republican campaigns and flat out asked, “are you guys going to go negative on Otten?” – only to see wincing faces, uncomfortable sitting in chairs, and general uneasiness.  I usually get the standard, “well, that’s not who our candidate is – we’re going to stay positive” answer – which is cute, but hardly politically wise given Otten’s self-financed media candidacy and ability to define himself.

In politics, if you let a candidate define himself and do not define him first, he is able to build a narrative around himself and run a campaign on his own terms.  You don’t have to lie, or get “into the mud” as it were, but being shy of attacking somebody for a major campaign issue such as the destruction of American Ski Company, is naive.

Well, it may have come much later than it should have, but the folks at the Maine Center for Public Interest have decided that since no one else wants to talk about this issue, somebody has to – and they have volunteered.

Yesterday, they published an expose of Otten’s claims of business accumen, specifically his time at the helm of ASC, and essentially said everything that people have been whispering and wondering about since Otten announced he was running.

The article is worth a read – here’s a snippet:

If you Google “American Skiing Co.” and “Otten,” you get 4,700 “hits.”

That’s because Leslie B. Otten’s claim to fame was his attempt to turn that company into the national’s largest and most successful owner of ski resorts, starting with Sunday River in western Maine.

But that attempt ultimately failed, a failure symbolized by the “delisting” of the company by the New York Stock Exchange after it had fallen from a high of $18 per share to well less than $1. Eventually, the company was dissolved.

Now, the 60-year-old Otten wants to be governor of Maine and is scrupulously avoiding his record as the founder and chief executive officer of American Skiing Co.

His Otten for governor Web site claims he was the “head of one of Maine’s most successful businesses” – but never names the business. In fact, nowhere in his campaign biography does he mention American Skiing.

Otten is one of seven candidates in the June 8 primary for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. His is considered a leading candidate because of his name recognition and the contributions to his campaign: $671,000 as of January. Of that, $587,000 was his own money.

Otten’s record at American Skiing is relevant to his campaign not only because he touts his business experience, but also because as a CEO of a public company, Otten – like a governor – was entrusted to spend money raised from the public.

For the full version of the story on Otten, visit http://pinetreewatchdog.org/