Portland [Maine] has, for years, been an experimental proving ground for progressive politics. Given the partisan lean of the city and its inhabitants, Maine’s largest municipality has long been where the left goes to try out ideas and push the most outlandish policy proposals because they can accomplish them there. That success then becomes the “foot in the door” proof-of-concept for larger statewide campaigns. Rinse, wash, repeat.
Not so this year.
A proposed increase in the minimum wage to an absolutely insane $15 in Portland, driven by the most rabid of progressive activists was obliterated at the polls. Despite predictions by some on the left that it would win, and comfortably, the minimum wage ordinance lost by more than 15 points....
Another local ordinance — dubbed the scenic view ordinance — which was in reality a repulsively anti-development proposal that would leave the city hostage to a small group of hostile NIMBYs in the city and grind growth to a halt, pushed by (again) the most radical local progressives in the city, went down as well. This one lost by more than 25 points.
Thursday, November 5, 2015
A Brutal Night for Lefties in Maine
Matthew Gagnon reports for Pine Tree Politics:
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I'd gladly give Maine up to progressives and let them go wild - in exchange for doing the opposite in New Hampshire. Let's put the issue to rest once and for all. If you think Krugman sounds kooky now, what would he sound like explaining how that would end up?
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