Otten's new Ad:

From an email sent by Peter Mills' campaign:

We're hearing Jobs Jobs Jobs from many aspiring politicians. I am greatly concerned that the candidates with no experience in the statehouse simply do not understand the state's role in job creation. While some may have hired employees in private enterprise these are not necessarily long-term jobs or the types of jobs with benefits that enhance the Maine way of life.

[...]We deserve ideas that can actually be accomplished from the governor's office, ones that will create sustainable jobs. I have the vision, determination, and experience to make this happen. Chanting "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs" will not bring them here. Jobs aren't Beetlejuice, and this is real life -- not the movies.

Otten's ad:

Republican Les Otten today becomes the first 2010 Gubernatorial candidate to begin advertising on television. The campaign has announced that their first 30-second spot will begin airing this morning. Here's the script:

"I’ve spent the last thirty-seven years creating good jobs and solving problems. I started with just four employees and grew a company to over twelve-hundred. I know how to build jobs in Maine. Maine’s next Governor has to be about creating jobs and more jobs. We must save the jobs that are here today. We must attract companies to expand here. As Governor, I’ll be the Job Creator in Chief. In a Les Otten administration, the first thing that people will think about will be jobs."

I'm looking forward to the video of this ad, which may set a new world record by using the word "jobs" seven times in thirty seconds.

We all know that political contributions are often made by interest groups, businesses and individuals in order to buy access to legislators and influence legislation. Rarely, however, do these contributors admit in plain language that that's what they're up to.

Maybe that's why I found Republican gubernatorial candidate Les Otten's response to being accused of giving money to Democratic candidates so jarring. He defended himself by claiming that the contributions were made not on the basis of ideology, but were instead just basically bribes given in order to gain influence.

"I’ve been in business in Maine for 37 years and you cannot create jobs in the business world - the real world - by being completely partisan.

Businessmen often contribute to different political campaigns to get the attention of all legislators because important legislation affecting our companies and our employees is created in a bipartisan manner."

This email is now making the rounds among Maine Republicans:

---- Forwarded Message ----
From: Chris Potholm
To: Edith Smith
Cc: Tom Elliman; Les Otten; Potholm Erik
Sent: Saturday, September 26, 2009 10:16:55 AM
Subject: Re: October 8th event in Portland

Brilliant. Perfect. What a super response and you've but the Pol Pot campaign on notice that Edie been doing politics in Maine for a long time and will not be fooled. Great job.

Edith Smith wrote:
> Tom:
> After careful consideration, Les Otten and our campaign will not be participating in the Portland Republican City Committee event on October 8.
> As I have outlined in emails and on the phone with you, the $750 fee for attending was problematic for our campaign right from the beginning. In my 30 years of being a Republican in Maine, I haven't run across that type of fee charged to candidates, especially this early in an election cycle, and I believe it sends the wrong message to all our hard-working candidates.
> This week, with the addition of the straw poll to your event agenda which was not part of the original invitation, and with the steep fee of $50/person, it is no longer the type of event that we believe is healthy for the image of the Republican Party, or for the current Gubernatorial Primary.
> The straw poll puts the candidates in an adversarial position that evening. While Les was certainly willing to participate to share ideas with the audience and show a united Republican front amongst all the candidates, the straw poll adds nothing beneficial to the evening.
> And finally, I received information yesterday that Bruce Poliquin's fundraiser, Darcy Johnston of Johnston Consulting, Inc. in Vermont is the organizer of the October 8 event. I am dismayed by this blatent conflict of interest. To know that Darcy is receiving a commission from proceeds of the evening at the same time she is the fundraiser for the Poliquin campaign is inappropriate.
> I hope you understand the awkward position the event puts our campaign in and the reasons why we will not be participating.
> We would be happy and willing to work with the City Committee on an alternative event that promotes party unity and helps moves the Republican agenda forward in Maine.
> Thank you,
> Edie Smith
> Campaign Manager
> Les Otten for Governor Exploratory Campaign

It appears that Otten has pulled out of the event citing concerns similar to those raised by Jacobson.

It also appears that Otten's campaign is being supported by Chris Potholm, a longtime Maine political consultant, professor and author. The email is also cc'd to Potholm's son Erik, a partner at the media firm that created the infamous "swift boat" ads attacking John Kerry.

I've contacted the Otten campaign to see if the Potholms are playing an official role.

I really thought I was done writing about Les Otten's website.

Not so. The latest chapter of the lesotten.com saga has the candidate violating not just Obama's intellectual property but the campaign finance regulations of the State of Maine.

Apparently, Otten failed to include the expenditure made to Insyt New Media to create the website on his July 15th campaign finance report.

"Maine law is clear. An expenditure is made and must be reporting when the promise to pay is made," explained a Republican familiar with Maine's campaign finance regulations. "You can't wait until you write the check. When you place the order, the expenditure is made and must be reported. The website was live before the end of the reporting period, yet no expenditure was reported. Looks like a violation to me."

"Nowhere on the report is any expense related to the infamous logo and website. Nothing. No expenditure; no in-kind expenditure; and no unpaid bill. No accounting for the cost whatsoever."

The site went live on June 29, 2009 and was obviously contracted for, planned and developed prior to that date. The report should have included all expenditures made up to June 30, 2009.

The Lewiston Sun Journal today became the first Maine newspaper to call out Les Otten, in no uncertain terms, for his "recycling" of Obama's campaign materials.

At Down East today, I take a long look at Les Otten's campaign and the controversy over his website. It turns out his campaign site isn't the first time he's borrowed someone else's logo. Here's a hint:

On a related note, I'm very sorry to hear that Lorie Costigan, Down East's online editor, has been let go from the company for financial reasons. In our conversations, she always showed a deep commitment to the future of journalism in Maine and she has done a great job creating a vibrant website which now hosts a long list of essential Maine blogs.

Businessman Les Otten announced yesterday that he will seek the Republican nomination for governor in 2010. Based on his campaign website and materials, however, he looks more like he's running as a Democrat. One Democrat in particular.

I served on the academic discipline committee for two years in college and this is still one of the most blatant rip-offs I've ever seen:

It's not just his website either. Check out the front of the podium at his official announcement.

Les Otten's web firm, Insyt New Media emails over a clarification of the strange language previously accessible on the putative gubernatorial candidate's campaign site. They apparently received some worried phone calls from Otten's campaign staff after yesterday's post.

From the website managers: The language Mr. Tipping found in the password-restricted construction site of a yet-released website was nonsensical wording used just as a placeholder until the actual language is uploaded. The words he discusses in today's blog are meaningless until the real content is loaded. Thank you for your understanding.

While Otten may now lose some support from single-issue anti-evil-robot voters, he does gain some points for using a Maine-based web firm, which appears to do some good work.

The 2010 gubernatorial field is quickly getting crowded. Today, Dawn Hill, a second-term state Representative from York jumped into the race for the Democratic nomination. Hill is a lawyer and owns a dog daycare center called "It's a Dog's World".

Yesterday, Les Otten, a businessman whose most recent venture is Maine Energy Systems in Bethel and whom MaineBiz described as "one of Maine's most admired and reviled entrepreneurs" announced that he will take steps to form an exploratory committee early next week. He will likely seek the Republican nomination.

Someone is currently in the process of building a campaign site for Otten. Visiting www.lesotten.com/test and hitting "cancel" a few times brings up a page with the title "Les Otten for Governor" along with some malformed code and the phrase "It's imperative that the center of the Earth is re-conquored [sic] from the Decepticons, as soon as possible. The fate of the universe is in our hands." I really hope that's part of his official campaign platform.

Update: The page has been removed from public view and Otten's web firm has issued a clarification.