The Story Of A Hostile Porcupine

2013 has been an intense year for politics and it’s only half over. Already, the Maine Republican Party has gone from promising to self-destructing in a matter of months. After a tumultuous primary season and rough general election, a new direction was sought. This new direction, endorsed by Governor Paul LePage, was to elect former State Representative Rich Cebra as State Chairman. This was a position even I supported, knowing Cebra from his solid work in the Legislature. When he officially entered the race, he ran on allowing all parts of the party having a voice at the table. As a libertarian Republican who wanted a successful party, I supported this position.

As the battle for the Chairmanship heated up, reports were rolling in that Defense of Liberty PAC chairman Eric Brakey and others were smearing Rich Cebra behind the scenes. With mutations of the truth spreading, they were advancing their own candidate to, as Brakey said at a DOLPAC event, “take over” the party. To be clear though, I was wrong and Brakey was right about one thing: Cebra was not the one for Chair.

Despite the talk of a “take over”, I am to be considered the “overzealous blogger”, in the opinion of Brakey.

In the beginning, the DOLPAC alternative was a man by the name of David Jones. Regarding Jones, a couple facts stood out to me right away. The first was that his claim to have been an Independent candidacy for Governor in 2006 was clearly not true, as it bumped into the claim by him as well as on the DOLPAC site to have been a “lifelong fiscal conservative Republican.”

The second was the fact that DOLPAC refused to support certain principled liberty candidates based on their participation in Clean Elections, yet here they were endorsing, and even pushing, David Jones who had failed to qualify for Clean Elections funding and dropped out of the race after publicly stating his withdrawal was for that reason. Add to this the zero name recognition, which some Republican leaders saw as insulting to them.

Somebody was getting “overzealous”, and it wasn’t the blogger who supported the Governor’s choice for Chairman.

Then there is Maine Republican Party secretary Charles “Chuck” Mahaleris, who has recently taken to attacking me. Again, the practice of shooting the messenger instead of focusing on the message is at work. Of the things Secretary Mahaleris said about a fellow Republican were claims that “nothing helpful to our body” has come from the “unfriendly blogger.” By a number of people, I’ve essentially been labeled and described as hostile.

Put on the tin foil hat, as the reason is supposedly “to hurt our member Eric Brakey.”

This discussion resulted out of an accusation the Secretary made against a fellow member of the State Committee. Not only was the accusation false, it was unprofessional. It’s these sort of things that create a hostile work environment, not a random Bangor Daily News blogger exposing neglect of the bylaws or a drained bank account.

The accusation resulted from a Facebook conversation, as described in “PAC Chairman Claims Legislators Threatened Physical Violence“, regarding the Governor LePage re-election fundraiser with former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. State Committeewoman Violet Willis voiced concern regarding a potential perception issue by appearing with the controversial brother of former President George W. Bush. Brakey dodged the point by referring to a physical threat made against him by State Legislators in Augusta, using it to support his integrity.

The “overzealous blogger” defended Brakey. Ahead of his State Senate campaign launch and after a strong defense of him from any physical threats, Brakey continued the attacks alongside the Secretary. My defense of him here was not an attempt “to hurt our member Eric Brakey.” I am not the unnamed legislator who made physical threats towards him.

Secretary Mahaleris and Brakey are both supporters of Senator Susan Collins re-election. The Secretary, also a paid staffer of Senator Collins, was a strong defender of her Second Amendment views this past Spring after an uproar from conservative Republicans resulted from her support of gun control legislation. As the Maine Republican Party Secretary defended her, Brakey affirmed his disagreement with her on the issue, while stating he wanted to see her re-elected to the United States Senate.

Senator Collins represents a difficult point for Maine Republicans going forward. She is proven electable and is popular, but often sides with the left. She consented to hundreds of billions of dollars in spending programs proposed by the Democrats after President Barack Obama was elected. In 2009 alone, she voted for $192 billion in anti-recession stimulus spending and for a $825 billion economic recovery package. This came a year after voting for a $60 billion stimulus package. The list goes on, but as Mainers struggle daily to keep up with a bad economy, Senator Collins continues to favor spending money on wasteful spending programs. Where is this money coming from? Increased taxes or the Federal Reserve’s printing press?

Despite the claim that the “unfriendly blogger” has not been “helpful to our body”, it is not I who was overzealous in my consent of draining Mainer’s wallets to prop up President Obama and the Democratic agenda.

Yet, State Chairman Rich Cebra continues to make incoherent Facebook posts about plots against his party and conspiracy theories about inside jobs to bring down the operation. When the truth is, I supported Cebra for the position of State Chair. Perhaps that is what Secretary Mahaleris means when he states that “nothing helpful to our body” from me. The one thing this blogger is guilty of being overzealous of, was in supporting Cebra for the position.

Sometimes good legislators don’t make solid executives.

The story of this hostile porcupine, as you would be led to believe I am, is a simple one of a journey to expose the truth. Through all the friends lost and personal attacks launched against me, the unpopular stand is proof that this is not to make a name or create a political career. The goal is liberty for Americans and a prosperous future for the great state of Maine.

As someone who was born and raised in Maine, my only bias is towards that of my fellow everyday Mainer. As one who sees a future drowning in debt, my only concern is for the jeopardized prosperity for the children we will all bring into this world.

The Undercover Porcupine has been a registered Republican for his entire adult life. But blindly following the party line, refusing to utter a thoughtcrime, and refraining from asking questions is not the path to a successful future. There is a time to fight and there is a time to unite. Unity only occurs through respect that is mutually earned.

After Penobscotgate, which represented an attack on fellow Republicans with a subsequent coverup by leadership, it is clear that the priority still remains the country club. The lack of a budget, as reported on “Maine GOP Violating Multiple Bylaws, Operating Without Budget“, is a great concern, as a political entity cannot function without money. On top of all these problems, the State Chairman is hanging out his own to dry, forcing good Republican leaders like Washington County Chairman Tony Bennett to defend himself against fellow Republicans and to State Legislators.

Every issue had been attempted to be handled internally by the respective parties affected. When it wasn’t, only then did I report. If anyone has been “nothing helpful to our body”, it is those who perpetuated these issues and ignored them. When darkness continues to engulf issues that should be resolved, it is time to shed the light on them.

The only one who opposes transparency after all is President Barack Obama, right? Think carefully, fellow Republicans. These are the questions we need to consider as we struggle to find our identity as a party and move forward into the future.

Chris Dixon

About Chris Dixon

Chris Dixon is a libertarian-leaning writer and managing editor for The Liberty Conservative. In addition to his political writing, he also covers baseball for Cleat Geeks and enjoys writing on a number of other topics ranging on Medium.