The Democratic propaganda machine that continually spews the lie that Republicans are evil cretins is dead.

I know, I think that’s funny, too. That lie should have died in the wee hours of Nov. 5, but of course it didn’t. It will most likely be resurrected with great vengeance, so watch out. That’s what happens when you can’t win on substance. You go negative, and you go big.

I couldn’t help but think what could have been done with the money that was spent lying about Republican candidates this election season. Mainers could have been fed, homes could have been heated, hospital bills for sick kids paid. What a waste.

When you are running on the lie that is progressive Marxism, you have no other choice than to paint your opponent as a heartless, self-centered thug. Ironic, isn’t it? You can’t come right out and say what it is that you want to do: Create a government-run nanny state that raises your kids for you from cradle to college. You can’t say you are going to try to destroy the state’s health care system – again – by crushing it with debt. You can’t say you’re going to destroy business in the state by burdening it with thousands of pages of regulations and red tape, and turn our public schools into little progressive cloning operations that need to be “open 24/7.”

In other words, you can’t tell the truth.

So instead, the progressives turn to creepy commercials with too-close close-ups of candidates that look like they’ve been hitting the cannabis, and hiring groups like Every Voice Maine, which actually have very little to do with Maine outside of their Washington, D.C., offices.

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But numbers can’t lie. And the numbers we woke up to Nov. 5 were breathtaking. Gov. Paul LePage garnered the highest vote total in Maine history, just shy of 292,000, which represented 48.4 percent of the vote. He won 56 percent of the vote in Androscoggin county, the first time a Republican has won a majority of those voters since 1950. (Folks can check the weekly Sam’s Club or BJ’s circulars for sales on Goo Gone to get those “61%” bumper stickers off of their cars now.)

And I’d like to thank the bear-baiting ban crowd for putting Question 1 on the ballot. You also gave us some numbers to cheer about in pushing turnout over the top, which worked in LePage’s favor. That makes me, and lots of other conservatives, smile.

Numbers also mean the governor will have a solidly Republican state Senate with which he can now work to continue advancing his agenda of eliminating welfare fraud, reducing taxes, ensuring state government accountability and transparency, improving the business climate, and continuing the work he and first lady Ann LePage do so wholeheartedly on behalf of Maine Veterans.

But a number that still concerns me is “one.” Knowing how important education is to the governor, I hope he takes note of one Facebook post that has now reached legendary status in conservative circles. It claims LePage didn’t win the popular vote, but won the gerrymandered “electoral college,” and his victory is therefore “the result of a flawed system.”

So Gov. LePage, now that you have our attention for another four years, let’s focus on making sure that no more young adults in our great state of Maine “graduate” thinking that is how our system works, OK? If we can accomplish that, your name will go down in the history books as turning this state around on every front, by the numbers.

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Julie McDonald-Smith lives in North Yarmouth. She is a registered nurse, former Capitol Hill staffer, and former chairwoman of the Cape Elizabeth Republican Committee. Her column appears every other week.


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