61%ers Say LePage Doesn't Represent Them

Submitted by Mike Tipping on Wed, 02/02/2011 - 3:52pm.
61% logo

In the past twenty-four hours, more than 600 stickers have been purchased featuring a blue outline of the state of Maine and "61%" in bold, black type. It's the first physical display of the power of a new political proto-movement in Maine that so far exists almost entirely online.

61% refers to the percentage of voters who voted for a candidate other than Governor Paul LePage in the last election. (The Secretary of State actually pegs that number at 62.4% but this campaign started before those numbers were final.)

With more than 4,000 Mainers declaring themselves fans of the "We are the 61% of Maine that did not vote for Paul LePage" page on Facebook in the last few weeks, and most of those having joined in the last few days, the idea seems to be gaining steam. The page's creators also just launched a website at MainesMajority.org. The site is currently just a way for people to buy stickers but the Facebook page serves up a steady stream of links to news stories and opinion pieces attacking the LePage administration.

Measured against other online political movements, the 61% campaign seems to be doing well attracting followers. Independent candidate Eliot Cutler, who lost to LePage by less than 2% of the vote, only has 2,103 Facebook fans and the 61% group now has almost half the fans of LePage's own campaign page, without the benefit of an actual election to get people interested. The website of the Maine Refounders, the state's most prominent Tea Party group, for another example, lists 930 members.



The people behind the campaign, which they describe as a “nonpartisan, nonprofit, volunteer effort” are Chris Korzen and Jack Woods.

Korzen is executive director of Catholics United, a group “dedicated to promoting the message of justice and the common good found at the heart of the Catholic Social Tradition.” Woods describes himself as a "freelance organizer and activist."

"This effort emerged from some conversations Jack Woods and I started having back in November,"  explained Korzen by email. "We were concerned that the fact that most of Maine didn't vote for the new governor was getting lost in the shuffle, and we wanted to find a way to help make sure Maine's majority had a voice."

"We decided to launch this effort on Facebook as a way of testing the 61% message. We picked up a couple hundred members right away, but things were pretty quiet for a few weeks. Then LePage told the NAACP to kiss his butt and we basically went viral," said Korzen, who theorizes that it's not simply LePage's election, but his abrasive style now that he has taken office that is driving his group's popularity.

It remains to be seen if the 61% group can keep up the pace in terms of growth and if its members can accomplish something more in the political sphere than just clicking "like" or buying stickers. If they can, LePage might need to start worrying. As the group's name suggests, the political middle and left in Maine still make up a solid majority of voters.

The views expressed on this Web site are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily represent the views of Down East Enterprise or its employees.

61%

Submitted by drumrboy29 on Fri, 02/25/2011 - 1:07am.

I'm shocked to find out that 61% of voters in Maine are morons. Although I'm not surprised because 61% of the people in Maine are poorly educated or live at taxpayer expense. We've been a liberal state for so long that most people with a modicum of intellect have moved elsewhere. We finally get a governor that tells it like it is and wants to cut the waste and incompetence in this states government and all the left can do is attack his non political correctness as if it makes him a bad person. Talk about grasping at straws. As for his "kiss my butt" comment. I applaud it. It's about time the NAACP was put in it's place. They are a special interest group and they would be the first to call us racists if we started the National Association for the Advancement of White People. Since when has white not been a color? But of course they are not racist for excluding white people now are they? It's about time real Mainers have a voice in the Blaine House. The left is just po'd because the working class got tired of paying for liberalism and stupidity. Personally, I hope they pack their bags and leave.

Were there any bumper

Submitted by ftmcarpos on Sat, 02/19/2011 - 1:03pm.

Were there any bumper stickers or articles concerning Gov. Baldacci receiving only 38% of the vote in 2006?

I was one of the 62% who said that Baldacci did not represent me....

the 1%ers

Submitted by timjy on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 12:41pm.

hopefully the 11 %ers have nothing to ddo with maine politics anymore.We already dug that hole.

Actual numbers on Cutler facebook

Submitted by annietselikis on Thu, 02/03/2011 - 1:10pm.

Eliot has 2106 friends on facebook, but he also has a separate fan page with 6948 people. Additionally, friends and fans to Eliot's politician page have both continued to grow post-election.

I worked on Eliot's campaign, and a quick search on facebook will show that I am not a fan of the 61% page, nor do I intend to be at any point in the future. I'm glad to see this particular blog post though, it is important to see the mass of people who are frustrated.

Mr Tipping: Your article

Submitted by Brady Stewart on Thu, 02/03/2011 - 12:51pm.

Mr Tipping:

Your article should be corrected to reflect the fact that Eliot Cutler has nearly 7,000 fans on his Facebook page. (The 2,100 number refers to the number of friends on his personal page.)

61%'ers

Submitted by ehc270 on Thu, 02/03/2011 - 8:39am.

I would reiterate a previous comment by saying if 61% didn't vote for Lepage, what percentage didn't vote for Cutler or Mitchell?

I'm glad to see a Governor finally fighting the generational "leeching" of what was once a thriving state.

The fact that he doesn't mince words or waste time mumbling platitudes is refreshing.

This state can no longer afford the multitudes of public employees and the associated hacks that surround them.

Obviously, the majority of voters have had enough of the failing methods that have driven Maine's economy into the ground for the past 40 years.

How does 61% represent the people that did not vote Gov LePage

Submitted by devonshire on Thu, 02/03/2011 - 5:58am.

Your article references 4000 fans of 61%. Those who did not vote for Governor Le Page. Isn't this more "Spin" than fact if you go by the numbers.
Eliot R. Cutler (U)207,339 36.60%
Paul R. LePage (R)216,761 38.26%
Elizabeth Libby Mitchell (D)108,137 19.09%
Shawn H. Moody (U)28,63 25.05%
Kevin L. Scott (U)5,673 1.00%

Your figure represents less than 1% of the voters who cast votes in the Gubernatorial race. Less than those who voted for Kevin Scott. Maybe you should call the group the 1% er's There is nothing more irritating than folks who decide they represent everyone else. Perhaps it is the result of a few special interests who have been asked to take a back seat, because clearly the voters didn't vote for the 1% er's either.

62.4%

Submitted by Ybrad on Thu, 02/03/2011 - 8:40am.

Your response is misleading...and probably wishful thinking. 4,000 fans of the FB page may be 1% of the voters, but last week there were a little less than half that number of fans...it's a movement that's growing. It also represents only those who are presently registered with Facebook. The movement is growing because A LOT of people do not feel, based on the first few weeks of LePage's administration, that he has any intention of representing the entire population, but instead is intent on forwarding his Tea-Party-based agenda. Watch this space.