Did Bruce Poliquin Kill TABOR?

Before Poliquin became involved, TABOR led in the polls significantly. Read More...

Did Bruce Poliquin kill TABOR?

Wed, 11/04/2009 - 9:12am
Posted by Ed Brown

Forgive the sensational headline, but it occurred to me as I saw the results today that perhaps Bruce Poliquin's efforts vis a vis TABOR were not helpful.

Here's why I am starting to consider this:

- Before Poliquin became involved, TABOR led in the polls significantly

- When Poliquin came out a few weeks ago with his $100,000 donation, radio ads, and general pro-TABOR blitz, he established one clear message: TABOR = GOP. Prior to that, TABOR may not have been considered a partisan issue.

- Yesterday I was shocked to receive, at 12:38pm on election day, an email from Bruce with the subject line "What if Question 4 Loses Today?" He wanted to make sure people didn't think it reflected on him. I, and others I've spoken with, considered this an outrageous move, with so much time left for people to vote. I'm not aware of another occasion when someone threw in the towel at noon on election day.

Perhaps I'm living in fantasy land to think TABOR was not considered a partisan issue until Poliquin made it one. But the polling certainly took a nosedive after he became involved. What I am hearing from people is that his $100,000 donation was a transparent attempt to ingratiate himself with a party and a movement he had never lifted a finger for prior to becoming a candidate. His email blast on election day seems to further substantiate this claim- he truly appears to have used TABOR as a tool, and had more concern about how it would affect him than how it would affect TABOR's efforts, or the welfare of Maine.