Steve Abbott’s New Media Pitch
Today, Steve Abbott’s campaign announced a trifecta of personnel for the New Media wing of his campaign.
Maine politicos will undoubtedly recognize the three names: Lance Dutson, Mark Ellis and Scott Fish.
I could describe the three myself, but Abbott’s release does a good job of that, so I’ll just let them speak for themselves:
Dutson:
Lance Dutson served last year as New Media Director for U.S. Senator Susan Collins. He was also Director of Internet Strategy for Collins’ 2008 re-election campaign. Mr. Dutson received the Maine Software Developers’ Association ‘Best of the Web’ Award for the Collins for Senator web site.
Dutson ran the political blog ‘Maine Web Report,’ and was recognized nationally for his investigative reporting on Maine state government. Lance broke ground in 2007 when he became one of the original bloggers credentialed as press to cover the US v. Libby trial in DC Federal Court. He has been published in the Bangor Daily News, Portland Press Herald, and was featured on Fox News, NECN, and local television and radio programs.
Ellis:
Mark J. Ellis, Abbott for Governor Political Director, is the former two-time chairman of the Maine Republican Party. Mr. Ellis most recently served as Director of Information Technology for Douglas Dynamics, L.L.C., where he led a team of computer, network, and software experts. He has worked in information technology for 30 years with companies such as Fisher Engineering, Forster Manufacturing Inc., Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp., and Digital Equipment Corp. (now Hewlett-Packard).
Ellis is founding webmaster of MaineGOP.com and designed and maintained the very first website for a statewide race in Maine: Susan Collins’ 1996 winning U.S. Senate campaign. Ellis was also county and eCampaign chairman for Dick Campbell, Ross Connolly, Jane Amero, Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, Charlie Summers, and Jim Longley. In 2004, Ellis served on the Bush-Cheney ‘04 Maine Steering Committee as the eCampaign Chairman.
Fish:
Scott K Fish is perhaps best known in Maine as owner/editor of the State’s premier political web site, AsMaineGoes.com, online since 1998. From 1989-2000 Scott worked in the Maine State House as a communications staffer for the Senate and House Republicans. In 1992 he served as communications director for then-U.S. Representative Olympia Snowe’s re-election campaign.
Scott has been active for over 20 years writing guest columns for many Maine newspapers. He has been a featured guest expert on internet and political issues on Maine talk radio and television shows, and also produced and co-hosted the “Fish and Plowman” show on WVOM in 1998. Mr. Fish is in his sixth year writing the monthly Soapbox Derby political column for Bangor Metro magazine.
The presence of Dutson and Ellis on Abbott’s team should come as a surprise to absolutely no one – we basically already know about this. The most interesting bit of this announcement is the presence of Fish.
As Maine Goes has been a staple of the conservative online community for more than a decade, and it has a particular reputation as a bastion of true believer conservatism. Go into any gubernatorial thread there, and you will find a plethora of supporters of all the candidates. Fish has not (at least not that I have found) come out publicly for one of the candidates up to this point, so his picking a horse will undoubtedly generate some conversation.
What this means for his forum is an open question. Will it become a PR arm of the Abbott campaign? Will he report on the race the same way he has up to this point? Will his readers embrace his backing of Abbott, or will there be backlash? These are open questions, but in the grand scheme, minor ones.
But, none the less, this announcement shows that Abbott will be focusing a great deal of his attention online. The question of if these three men can move the needle for him will be an ongoing story line in the course of the election. He has certainly chose people with extensive experience in the online space in Maine, which can’t hurt.
Popularity: 8% [?]
Fascinating choice. You’ve briefly touched on what this marriage will entail for AMG, but I’m curious as to what this means for the campaign.
I have blindly assumed that SA will position himself as a moderate, and I’m intrigued by his selection of Mr. Fish.
Also, AMG has a seeming penchant for attracting the exact kind of vitriol about which you editorialized yesterday, which adds another layer of intrigue concerning the tone of the race.
The fact that this is one of the first major public announcements of his campaign, though, demonstrates that SA apparently feels you’ve been right the last couple weeks about the focus on new media. What do you, study this stuff?
I hope this merger of online “gurus” will redirect Abbott’s website to show some of his views on our state.
I went to his website last week to find our where he stands on the issues in this state and there was NOTHING! His whole website revolved around who is supporting him – Susan Collins was not listed as a supporter? – which leads me to believe he is running a popularity contest.
Steve is way too smart for that. I hope his new trio will do him some good and publish worthwhile information as to his views so we can learn what he stands for and not who stands for him!
Scott Fish squaring up with Steve Abbott is the first official nail into the coffin that is the Bruce Poliquin campaign. One has to ask how much more of his own money Poliquin is willing to pour into a campaign whose only traction comes from gravel he continually pours under the wheels of his own motorcoach.
“QuarterHorseMaestro”,
Whoever you are, grow up. I do find it interesting that Abbott supporters on AMG and this site are A) always anonymous; and B) seem to feel a need to keep going after Poliquin.
What are you afraid of? Does it worry you that Bruce’s 24/7 hard work and his message resonating with thousands of voters might win him the nomination? It may be fun to play around on sites like these, and people like you may provide an insight into the mindset of Abbott supporters, but slimy smears like yours and others will repulse Maine voters.
Garrett – You know what’s telling about the Poliquin campaign? I am a long-time Maine Republican, have been active in more campaigns than I could count and I had to Google-check Poliquin’s name to make sure that I spelled it correctly. Ouch.
You’re right, that is very, very telling. Sounds like you’re another establishment insider who people are sick and tired of. Thanks for sharing, your earlier comment makes much more sense now.
Where are Poliqin’s new media guys from, out of state? This is one of the reasons I’m supporting Abbott – he uses players from the home team. And he used the home team to walk it too the other guys today at the Penobscot Caucus…57% of the vote in a 7 way race? I’d start working a deal with Abbott if I were one of the other candidates…
This is all well and good, but I still have no idea what abbot actually stands for, if anything. His website says NOTHING, and other media likewise, other than “These people over here like me!” and that he chummed around with Collins for a while like it’s a good thing.
So far, Abbot is an empty bandwagon at best, and a worthless Collins pawn at worst. . I welcome anyone to show me otherwise.
Dell_Cue- And Bruce Poliquin won all the rest of the caucuses.
And you mean the home team lead by Peter C. who has not won
anything in Maine!!!!!
Nick, I can tell you who Abbott is…he’s the guy who got 57% of the vote in today’s 7 way race…that’s who Abbott is…(if you don’t know that’s a good thing in electoral politics)….
Dell_Cue, I hate to be the one to point out the obvious but the poll was a straw poll taken at an event with maybe 200 people.He received 24 votes. No candidate should be bragging about that, let alone no supporter should actually think this is a legitimate telling of how things may or may not turn out in the primary. Nick is right, I am curious, can you tell me where he stands? I searched his website and cannot find anything. It will be very important for him to come out soon with a stance on something to avoid people thinking he is a stuffed suit.I am not saying anything negative, I am really wondering where he stands…
As many others have pointed out, name recognition aside, Abbott’s exact platform is unknown. I understand that he wants to create fiscal responsibility by auditing the state government, but every Republican candidate promotes that. What makes him qualified to take on such an executive position? The fiscal strait our state government has become entrenched within can only be fixed someone with actual managerial experience. I personally support Bruce Poliquin, but believe LePage, Jacobsen, Otten, and Beardsley all have more qualifications when it comes to making sure our state is fiscally sustainable than Abbott does.
“Garrett – You know what’s telling about the Poliquin campaign? I am a long-time Maine Republican, have been active in more campaigns than I could count and I had to Google-check Poliquin’s name to make sure that I spelled it correctly. Ouch.” – Ouch. I mean just because a candidate came out of relative obscurity before announcing his candidacy and that you can’t spell must mean that he will lose. You got me there.
“One has to ask how much more of his own money Poliquin is willing to pour into a campaign whose only traction comes from gravel he continually pours under the wheels of his own motorcoach.” You are right, such a witty comment. Bruce has no support, and only has a sustainable campaign because he is successful.
Those comments were just so logical that there is no possible way for me to refute them. I mean, comments without substance sure are convincing. If you want a more pleasant response maybe you should think about making less flippant remarks. Bruce has been fastidious and diligent, showing a deep desire to be our next Governor. He loves this State and wants to see it go in the right direction. Don’t attack the campaign, just recognize that they want this state to prosper just as you do.
So Steve Abbott bought Scott Fish? That’s too bad for Maine discussion yet probably good for Scott. I hope he held out for an extra-big pile of dough because the credibility of AMG should not be lost for pennies!
Ah well…
Have you been to a campaign event and actually listened to Steve Abbott?
There’s really not much there – once you discount the constant name-dropping, the fact that his Dad was football coach at UMaine and some very wealthy people are writing his upcoming plans for him. Oh, I forgot that Steve Abbott also PLAYED high school football here in Maine (another chief qualification for governor, I’m sure). He also loves his wife and kids, and other unique trait for politicians, right?
Maybe I’m old fashioned… but shouldn’t a man actually DO SOMETHING before coming back to Maine and running for Governor?
Reid, we know that Bruce Poliquin worked for Avatar. I’ve heard mention of a compuer company he was involved in. Poliquin’s campaign keeps talking about the many businesses in Maine he has managed, but no one has heard what businesses. I guess people are curious because they are trying to figure out who to vote for based on facts. All we’ve heard mentioned was Avatar, what else has he owned/managed that would tell us that he has the background needed to run our state?
In fairness Garrett, I had to look up Abbott’s name to see how many tees that there were in his name. I think it’s funny that both claim to be leaders – anyone claiming to be a leader in a State the size of Maine shouldn’t have insiders OR outsiders don’t know how to spell their names. Seriously. Sadly.
I got a chance to talk to Mr Abbott at our caucus i can tell you he answered my questions without hesitation.
1)How are you going to fix maine state government?
audit, put in a system of metrics that you determine if a program is or isnt working and get rid of the ones that arent working, use metrics (a system of measurements to see how effective something is) in all of state government. put good experienced people in key places who know how to fix things.
2) where do you stand on the second amendment?
Strong support of the second amendment, lifelong hunter, i think he may actually be the only candidate who actually owns guns and knows how to use them.
3)health insurance reform?
talked about system wide reform down to the service providers level giving them insentives to cut out waste and abuse.
it all made sense to me.
sounds like he will put a team together to get the job done and fix the mess we’re in.
@DellCue, that’s exactly why I’m askinf about Abbott. Why are those caucus-ers supporting him, other than bandwagoning?
@Rusty Shackelford, THANKYOU! That’s the first I’ve gotten out of his campaign yet, and am gad to hear of these positions. Now if people could get that info without having to interrogate him themselves…..
Rusty- Abbott got in to the race last so he copy
many of Bruce Poliquin’s positions. Really original!!!!!
@JohnBouchard- If the ideas are right, who cares who said them. No need to be a petty campaign-bot.
Nick Yes but we need a business manager NOT a Washington
insider!!!!!
Good God, what is this obsession with a “business outsider” winning? Who gives a damn who it is if good policy results?
Did we need a “business outsider” to run for President in 1980 when Reagan cleaned up the stank of Jimmy Carter? No, he was a two term Governor of the most economically significant state in the union outside of New York, had run for president like twice before, and was a conservative insider since the days of Goldwater 16 years prior.
I’m getting very annoyed with this collective orgasm over “business managers”. I get the appeal of an outsider, but Jesus Christ – if two people have identical policy positions, quite frankly I would be more apt to vote for somebody I think has a demonstrated political talent to get something done about it, over somebody with no experience – not even activist experience – with politics, legislatures, politicians, etc.
Everyone always says government should be run like a business and blah blah blah. But that is nonsense – governments are not businesses, and the legislature is not a corporate board. The skills that make you a success in the business world are often times diametrically opposed to what makes someone an effective executive in the government world.
Quite frankly, I don’t think Bruce has the malleability, instincts, ability to compromise and make deals, or any of the basic skills that will allow him to succeed in remaking Augusta. At least guys like Jacobson have negotiated with unions and worked with government. At least guys like LePage have worked with city councils hostile to his agenda. At least people like Beardsley have dealt with the collaborative decision making of academia.
Bruce – who’s business record is STILL sketchy from what I can tell – is basically a real estate capitalist. That’s all great, and sure I guess it gives him some perspective on the negative impact of some state regulations, but that feeds a basic “my way or the highway” style of ruthless business acquisition, and doesn’t teach any quality skills that would serve him well in Augusta.
I’m just sick of this populist, angry, anti-establishment circle jerk over the idea of a “business outsider”, as though that is some kind of cure all to the state. I have seen WAY too many “business outsiders” – both Republican and Democrat – fail miserably when they enter state government, because they realize running a business and running a government are not the same, and many find that their combative, top down corporate executive mentality is actually COUNTER-productive to getting things done.
I don’t have a horse in this race, but I’m not writing off Abbott because he has been in government service in the shark pool that is the Senate (in fact, that may be a plus allowing him to run circles around the amateur morons in state government), and I am most certainly not putting a “business outsider” on a pedestal just because I hate the government and am in an anti-establishment mood this year.
Sick of this shit.
Re: the following from Bouchard:
“Rusty- Abbott got in to the race last so he copy
many of Bruce Poliquin’s positions. Really original!!!!!”
—-
Come on now, that is nonsense. Poliquin’s positions and ideas are very VERY standard stuff for Republican candidates in Maine. Nobody in this race – not Abbot, LePage, Poliquin, Otten, Beardsley, Jacobson or Mills – has ANY policy proposal that is particularly earth shattering, original, unique or otherwise innovative.
Poliquin has nothing in his repertoire that he can claim to be an original idea – and that isn’t even a slam against him… it is the fact of politics. The entire efficiency movement, audits, reform, etc… all these ideas are tried and true Republican ideas that have existed FOREVER. It doesn’t particularly matter when somebody enters the race, unless I start hearing something completely innovative, I wouldn’t count “idea stealing” as a major plus/minus for any candidate.
Dave,
You make some reasonable points (although the circle jerk comment might have been a little too much!). People following the race closely will hear the lines from the campaigns more than most people and thus will tire of them. Understandable.
That said, I want to address a few things you said. One, I’m sure you know that if a bunch of people say they support the same policies, that is not proof that they would equally follow through in office. Duh. Examples of not following through are too numerous to bother getting into.
Two, it might be annoying to hear about “business outsiders”, but that may just mean you’re watching too much Glenn Beck lately (not a bad thing at all, but that’s what he’s talking about the past week or two). Longtime politicos may have some valuable experience navigating politics, but where has that gotten us? Was Reagan a longtime politico when he won the race for Governor in California? Get to know Bruce more (and the other candidates), that would be my advice. You won’t find a more likeable guy. He’ll stay true to his principles but has the personality and integrity to work with the Democrats and get good things done.
Finally, this whispering campaign about Bruce’s businesses is a farce manufactured by supporters of other candidates who clearly see Bruce as a threat. You seem too smart to buy into that BS. And that opponents are attempting this should tell you something.
All in all, I hope you keep an open mind, keep learning more about the candidates, and keep cutting through the BS.
Cheers,
So why don’t we get some sort of resume from Bruce Poliquin? It’s been asked on numerous occassions, but there has been no answer. It should be simple. And if he comes back with a good background, then there’s nothing more to be said. We can start from there.
If I could vote AGAINST anyone it would be Steve Abbott. The last thing we need is an unoriginal career political type.
I liked the Bangor Daily News coverage of the caucus straw poll…they forgot to mention that the only reason Abbott won the Bangor preference poll was because he packed the room with Collins staffers)
Matt- What I am saying is that Abbott has nothing to offer
so why not use Bruce’s talkig points. Having someone like
Josh Tardy supporting you and following Sen. Collins around
for 12 year does not qualify him to be governor!
I’m done with the Maine GOP if we pick Abbott. It will be like we not only don’t “get it” in 2010……….we won’t even WANT to get it. I’m sure he’s a decent person, but if you can’t see that he represents EVERYTHING that the people are turning against (as in, “The PEOPLE’S SEAT”…..sound familiar???) Enough with the machine. Enough with the corruption. Enough with the establishment and the elite. Enough!
Abbott undoubtedly plays “the game” (that would be, the political game) very well. Do people not understand that we’re tired of the game? Get hired by a politicion, advance their own agenda, go along to get along, meet his or her bigtime donors, make the connections, then step into the gap when the time is right. Oh God help us.
24 people vote for the guy in Bangor (I’m shocked, shocked I tell you, that Collins’ staffers packed the vote!) Does any one realize how aboslutely PATHETIC and dumb it is to try to make that sound like anything other than what it is? (Dell, are you listening?)
Ellis signing on simply proves once and for all that the old suspicions people have had about which side of the GOP divide he has been on were well-founded. I like Marco and always held out hope that he would turn out to be on the right side. Oh well.
Scott Fish? How disappointing. But then, I never really knew much about his past and who he’s worked for, until reading the release.
And the third guy?? Who cares.
I LOVE this primary of 2010, because the lines are drawn just as clearly as lines can be. It’s our NY 23rd moment. “When we act like Republicans, we win”………..Ronald Reagan.
Panic – I smell panic…
Jim Cyr: don’t let the door hit you in the ass as you leave. I’m sure Maine Republicans will appreciate getting rid of some dead weight.
BTW, I heard the party platform was passed and is on its way to the convention floor in May without a shread of input from Jim Cyr.
If there’s something in the platform you don’t like, you’d be wise to keep your mouth shut. You had your shot at making it better and you blew it.
Good work, man!
Sorry, Maine’s Son. I won’t take my advice from you (and I do mean YOU, personally….. not “people like you”.) I’m a Reagan guy. You see, it’s 1974 all over again, and as the Gipper said, we’ll stay and fight WITHIN our party to return it to its principles. (You never heard anybody vent before?? lol). Yep, we will.
I’d ask about hiding behind a screen name, but you do whatever you want to do.
Yep, I’ve heard plenty of people vent. Venting is when your mouth gets ahead of your heart and mind and you say things you don’t really mean. You do it very well.
But who knows what you really mean? Better yet, who cares?
Well, I don’t care if you care lol
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