Letters_ShawnMoody

Shawn Moody at a debate earlier this year. 

On November 21, newly registered Republican Shawn Moody announced his bid for governor. This is the second time Mr. Moody has run for the office. The first, he ran as an independent candidate against Governor LePage. This time, he seems to be positioning himself as LePage’s heir, with all of the disastrous policies that such an alignment potentially implies. After all, LePage’s daughter Lauren and the governor’s political advisor Brent Littlefield are on Moody's campaign team.

When he announced his candidacy, Mr. Moody talked passionately, if vaguely, about the need for Maine "to get ahead," and he reflected on the hardships he faced during his childhood growing up in poverty. One would have hoped that the realities of lower-working class existence would have taught Mr. Moody a lasting lesson about the struggles of working Mainers. His speech, however, reflected an unrealistic vision of what it takes to succeed in a capitalist society. Having succeeded in business himself, he seems to think that anybody can achieve comparable success, and he employs the same tired “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” rhetoric that has long been used to silence objections from the working class that the deck is stacked against us (which it is).