Is Maine a Bellwether State for Independent Politics? An Interview with Eliot Cutler, Independent Candidate for Governor of Maine

Primary elections are being held in eleven states today, as the New York Times reports. Among them is Maine, which has a wide-open race for governor, for which three independent candidates have already qualified. In preparation for a post on the final shape of the Maine gubernatorial election, I contacted the campaign of independent candidate Eliot Cutler over the weekend, and was kindly granted an interview via email. Though you wouldn't exactly know it from the corporate media, two of Maine's last five governors have been independents, Angus King and James Longley. As stated in the interview, Eliot Cutler believes "voters will make it three for six this fall." Asked why he is running outside the two-party system, Cutler states:

I am running as an Independent because I am one. When I worked for Sen. Edmund Muskie and President Jimmy Carter, the Democratic Party was the party of reform. I believe that at least in Maine, it no longer is. I left the Democratic Party in 2005 . . . I supported a moderate Republican who lost his party's primary to a social conservative in the 2006 governor's race. I have since concluded that the leadership of both parties has become captive to the various special interests that control them and that they are both incapable to governing from the moderate center. I am committed to doing that and to giving voice and representation to what I believe is an overwhelming majority of independent and moderate Maine voters who want to see Maine government work again.

Head over to Third Party and Independent Daily to read the whole interview with Eliot Cutler, independent candidate for governor of Maine.