The Gloves Come Off Against Otten

Gibson

09. May, 2010

Thank God! This will demolish Otten…but, it’s his own doing by focusing his campaign on a lie!

Rufus

09. May, 2010

The ad is inaccurate. There was never a bankruptcy filing.

Jam!

09. May, 2010

Google American Skiing Company Bankruptcy and this is the first thing that comes up…Sounds like bankruptcy to me…

“Trading of Common Stock Expected to Cease after September 12, 2007

PARK CITY, Utah Park City is a city located in Summit County, Utah, United States. It is one of two major resort towns in Utah, the other being Moab. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back and a part of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area.
….. Click the link for more information. — American Skiing Company American Skiing Company was one of the largest operators of alpine ski, snowboard and golf resorts in the United States. Its resorts included Sunday River and Sugarloaf/USA in Maine and The Canyons in Utah.
….. Click the link for more information. (OTCBB OTCBB

See OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB). : AESK) announced that on September 10, 2007, the Company filed a Certificate of Dissolution with the Delaware Secretary of State in accordance with its previously announced plan of complete dissolution and liquidation The collection of assets belonging to a debtor to be applied to the discharge of his or her outstanding debts.

A type of proceeding pursuant to federal Bankruptcy . The dissolution will become effective as of 12:01 a.m. on September 13, 2007. Trading of the Company’s stock on the OTC Bulletin Board OTC Bulletin Board

An electronic quotation listing of the bid and asked prices of OTC stocks that do not meet the requirements to be listed on the NASDAQ stock-listing system. will also cease after September 12, 2007. Holders of the Company’s stock are advised that as a result of the cessation cessation Vox populi The stopping of a thing. See Smoking cessation. of trading on the OTC Bulletin Board, the ability to transfer, sell or purchase the Company’s common stock will be severely limited after September 12, 2007. Upon effectiveness of the dissolution, the Company will close its stock transfer books and discontinue dis·con·tin·ue
v. dis·con·tin·ued, dis·con·tin·u·ing, dis·con·tin·ues

v.tr.
1. To stop doing or providing (something); end or abandon: recording transfers of its stock on its books, except by will, interstate succession or operation of law.

Bill

09. May, 2010

Finally! One of the candidates is willing to tell the truth about Otten. Good for Bruce!

J

10. May, 2010

“FEWER jobs”.

Francine

10. May, 2010

Wow! I didn’t know that about Les. And I was actually leaning toward voting for him.

You can now count me as an undecided voter…again.

Ben

10. May, 2010

Reminiscent of the mysterious video put out in January

http://www.pinetreepolitics.com/2010/01/26/anti-otten-shenanigans-propt-response/

I guess Poliquin changed his mind since January

Dee

10. May, 2010

If you had asked months ago which GOP candidate would be the first to come out with a negative ad, I’d have told you it would be Poliquin.

Jennifer

10. May, 2010

Definitely changed my mind.

Why would Mr. Otten claim all these jobs for a company that he allowed to capsize? Why didn’t the press pick up on this?

And, finally, why would you run for Governor after failing so publicly?

Peter Newcomb

10. May, 2010

Since Sunday River and Sugarloaf are thriving today, we shouldn’t give this hit piece a second look. The reality is that these resorts are year round destination points that attract hundreds of thousands of people to western Maine. Some would argue that these mountains are the economic engine driving western Maine.

If my memory serves me correctly, other New England mountains experienced financial challenges during this same time period.

Let’s get back to real issues, shall we?

Mike

10. May, 2010

If “these mountains are the economic engine driving western Maine” why are the people of Oxford County so eager to build a casino? Guess it’s not that big an engine. And why does Les support a casino now when he opposed the last one?

Peter Newcomb

10. May, 2010

Mike
I don’t know much about the Casino issue, but I suspect the people of Oxford County are hoping to capitalize on the robust tourism activity in western Maine. That ‘activity’ is arguably anchored by the mountains.

john bouchard

10. May, 2010

Peter- This is not about Sugarloaf and Sunday River thriving today it is about Les Otten running the American Ski Co. in the ground! It is about his character or lack of it, and should he be the next
governor? The unions will cream him in the general. This is a big
issue!!!!

john bouchard

10. May, 2010

Ben, you would really like to see Poliquin go down wouldn’t you!
You know that if Bruce goes up against “Patches” McGowen it is lights out for the Demos. See you in November!!!

Ben

10. May, 2010

John Bouchard,
If Poliquin truly meant what he said in January, then it’s baffeling to me why he came out with this latest ad on Otten.

In January he said:

“In the strongest possible terms, I deplore the online advertisement singling out Les Otten. There is no place for this kind of attack ad in our race.

“I have personally spoken with the Les Otten campaign to express my strong disapproval. I hope the other candidates join me in publicly condemning the ad as a childish and unnecessary attack.”
-Bruce Poliquin

I’m not sure how you can defend Poliquin’s recent ad against Otten!

I want a republican voted in in November, but this negative advertising is done for nothing more than eliminating a rival. Sorry, but it’s a really dirty ad. There are an abundance of good GOP canidates which have heartily proven themselves at the GOP Convention. You assume it will be Poliquin and McGowen, or maybe you fear Otten and McGowen. After this past week-end, I’d say a good group of GOP’s are very much in the running, neither of which,IMHO,will be Poliquin or Otten.

Garrett

10. May, 2010

Ben, the earlier ad was done by someone trying to make it look like Poliquin had done it–that is the distinction between then and now.

As for going negative, eliminating that rival is a good thing for all Maine Republicans. Otten is vulnerable in so many areas, I just can’t see him as a viable general election candidate. The Democrats would eat him alive.

Your last sentence…all I can say is, wow, you simply could not be more off. Are you basing your analysis on the convention? I’m pretty sure there are thousands of Maine Republicans who are not party activists, who were not at the convention, and who will be voting on June 8. I’ll go ahead and assume you have zero reliable data you based that statement on.

Ben

10. May, 2010

I have no data Garrett, but I have been following the race from early on. I agree that people that haven’t been following the race may fall into the media hype, but Les Otten’s name is pretty well known for his past. I’ve been around a while. I do not believe he will be a viable general election candidate. I am not a party activist, just someone who has been very intersted in this election because of the “State” of affairs.

That being said, I have no tolerance for the dirty BS. Never have. I can make my own opinions, thank you very much.

And Garrett, the distinction between then and now in regards to American Ski Co. video in January is no different! The message given in January by who knows who, is the same as Poliquin’s today! He’s giving the same message, so how does he defend himself after he said he deplores attack ads?

Garrett

10. May, 2010

Ben, I guess my point is high profile events or comments on websites are not necessarily very accurate indicators of support. Les Otten certainly has a good shot at winning the nomination. So does Poliquin. He is running a very different campaign than the other candidates. It would be easy to write him off if your views are based on what you see in higher profile places like websites and GOP events. But those reflect a small and often unrepresentative demographic when compared to the entire population that will be voting on June 8. No one has reached out to more people than Poliquin, and it is paying off. Not to mention his ability to get air time, and many successful earned media appearances.

As for going negative being some sort of heinous, awful, BS thing that just doesn’t belong in politics… Well, you yourself say you doubt Otten’s general election viability. Otten does have a very real chance at the nomination. Do you expect thousands of Mainers to spontaneously decide to look deep into Otten’s history and present claims, then realize he’s not the guy they thought he was and not the guy they will vote for? It doesn’t work that way, at least when the major media in Maine are not making an issue of it, themselves. If you want a Republican to win, doubt Otten’s viability, and accept the premise that Otten could win the nomination (trust me, he really could), then you’re holding a contradictory position in thinking going negative on Otten is simply dirty BS. Exposure of Otten’s history with ASC to a much broader audience was not only long overdue, but also of service to electing a Republican governor in November. If the media had been investigating and reporting on it, the ad would not have been necessary. But they hadn’t been.

Peter Newcomb

11. May, 2010

John
Does the fact that the Mountains are thriving today contradict the argument that Mr. Otten ran ASC into the ground? I think it does. Are the jobs really gone? No!
How many thousands of jobs are in western Maine because of these resorts? 10-15?
This attempted hit only draws attention to the rise of Sunday River and Sugarloaf. How these 2 Mountains became the Easts premier ski resorts.

Bill

11. May, 2010

Forget all the political spin and parsing words, did ASC go bankrupt and was it because Les Otten chose to take on too much debt? That’s the question. Frankly, it’s one Otten has never really answered and I’m glad Poliquin has put it out there.

If you look at the history of ASC, there’s simply no way that you could conclude anything other than the company DID effectively go bankrupt and Otten’s actions were the primary cause. There are lots of seasonal-based businesses that don’t collapse after one or two bad seasons. So it had to be something else.

The focus on Sunday River is also silly. Poliquin never said anything about Sunday River. If Sunday River is thriving, great! Good for Les. Still doesn’t excuse what he did with ASC and causing such great financial loss for his investors.

Peter Newcomb

11. May, 2010

Bill
The misleading hit piece is about jobs. Sunday River and Sugarloaf are thriving.
The implication of the ad is that Mr. Otten destroyed jobs in Maine. That is not true.
ASC did not file for bankruptcy. That part of the ad is not true.

This is Dan Rather style journalism at its best.

“Although the ad is full of falsehoods, the ad is basically correct”

Michelle

11. May, 2010

Les Otten lost money for his investors because he did his job poorly. As governor, if he does his job poorly, the taxpayers of the state of Maine will lose money. I’m not willing to take that chance.

Rufus

11. May, 2010

How is Les’ Golf Clinic business doing in Portland on Congress St.? I walked by it today and it looks like they are moving or going out of business. The doors were locked at 1:45pm and the Otten for Governor signs are no longer hanging in the windows. The Golf Clinic sign mounted above the front door has been removed from the front of the building too.

dale

15. May, 2010

Although I don’t know whom I am going to for, for governer I know who I am not voiting for. Why doesn’t Poliquin try and say what he can do for the people of Maine insteat start right off by negitive campaining. This kind of politics should be outlawed and the people that do this kind of campaining should not be allowed to run for offices.
Stop this crap and let the people what your can do that is productive.

Reid

16. May, 2010

I understand that some people are offended by negative campaigning. But I can’t see why someone would not vote for Poliquin simply because of this ad. This was his 3rd ad, so it is not like he came out of the gate with a negative campaign. He has always run an ebullient and hard working campaign.

If Otten is willing to tout his experience as a CEO and his successes, then voters should be happy that Bruce is willing to show his failures.

To Reid

17. May, 2010

I will not vote for Poliquin simply because of this ad. If he can’t tell me anything good about himself, and is only able to hurl mud at others, he’s not the man for me.

Derek Viger

17. May, 2010

He has had two other ads. And maybe a few people wont vote for Poliquin because he challenged an opponent, but I’d wager some wont vote for Otten either after seeing the ad.

Maine may not like ads like Poliquin’s, but that doesn’t mean they don’t work. They plant a seed of doubt.

AP

22. May, 2010

I commend Poliquin for revealing valuable information that we voters would not have known. The truth needs to be revealed and we voters need to know the truth BEFORE we vote.

Rod Labbe

27. May, 2010

I’m greatly disturbed by Poliquin’s latest ad, that shows–in loving close-up–a beatifically smiling Poliquin apparently wearing rouge and lipstick. That’ll get the transgendered vote, but it frightens me!

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