During this election season, it’s been interesting watching our current representative to Congress, Democrat Chellie Pingree as she campaigns against her Republican challenger, Dean Scontras.

If media advertisements are any gauge, Pingree, the first-term incumbent for Maine’s 1st District, is running for re-election on her support of small business and work supposedly done on behalf of Maine’s veterans. The commercials are slick, but their content has no meaning in the context of today’s harsh economic realities. In an unusual move by an incumbent, Pingree has mixed in some nasty negative spots against her opponent since the start of her media campaign. Other negative advertising on her behalf has been funded by several organizations not directly connected to her campaign.

My guess is that this is her only safe route, for Pingree is an ardent supporter of Obamacare and stimulus spending, programs that the majority of citizens Maine and the nation do not support. The only time I’ve heard her mention Obamacare in the course of the campaign was during the debate with Scontras on MPBN, when she declared her belief that Obamacare doesn’t go far enough- it still requires a public option!

Chellie did not do well in that contest. There was a sharp contrast between an affable and engaged candidate- Scontras- and one unable to stay on topic, often appearing confused and angry- Pingree. That debate provided meaningful insight into the characters of these candidates.

Speaking of character, Chellie Pingree has some baggage in that department. Recently charges were made against her that she was violating House Ethics rules by accepting flights on S. Donald Sussman’s private jet. Mr. Sussman is the principal owner of Paloma Partners, a Wall St. hedge fund. Mr. Sussman and his out-of-state employees have all been staunch financial supporters of Chellie’s political ambitions, donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to her campaigns. An analysis of the flight logs of Sussman’s jet seems to indicate that Chellie has been a passenger on many occasions, commuting between DC and Maine, and possibly to fundraising events in other states. The last I heard, the Federal Election Commission is looking at the Congresswoman for possible violations stemming from the use of Sussman’s aircraft.

I find Pingree’s relationship with Sussman particularly disturbing, for as the President and CEO of Common Cause in 2006, and during her congressional run in 2008, she loudly articulated an anti-Wall Street agenda, and specifically called out legislators that accepted Wall Street money and rode on the corporate jets!

Pingree’s written remarks delivered to the Subcommittee on the Constitution in 2006: “Most Americans never have and never will fly on a chartered jet, much less a fancy corporate jet complete with wet bar and leather couches. So when members of Congress constantly fly around on corporate jets and pay only the cost of a commercial ticket, it contributes to the corrosive public perception that members of Congress are more like the fat cats of Wall Street than they are like the rest of us.”

My take from all of this is that Chellie lives in the elitist world of “Do as I say, but not as I do”.

In short, she’s a hypocrite, and a coward to boot. If she’s so proud of her first-term accomplishments, why hasn’t she been promoting them? Why doesn’t she let the folks back home know she supported and voted for Speaker Pelosi’s agenda almost 100% of the time? Why did she avoid her constituency in 2009 and again this year by refusing to hold public town hall meetings? If she thinks that her representation of the people of Maine is worthy of another term, why isn’t she campaigning on that record?

In sharp contrast to Pingree, Dean Scontras has spent the better part of the last two years speaking to Mainers across the state about the debts and deficits our Congress continues to rack up. He understands why the economic climate is where it is, and offers solid, common-sense approaches to address the problems. Scontras realizes that massive debt and deficit spending is not the way to cure our ailing economy- a position most Mainers support! He has pledged to work to repeal Obamacare and replace it with more effective measures to resolve our health insurance issues.

Dean Scontras is one of us, and is committed to acting in the best interests of the people of Maine, and not in support of any ideological agenda.

Last Sunday, breaking with a tradition of supporting Democrats and incumbents, the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram gave their endorsement to Scontras: “Scontras’ emphasis on fiscal restraint and the absolute necessity to get spending under control without raising the tax burden on any group of Americans is the right answer to the very serious fiscal problems this nation faces.”

Don’t just hope for change- make one! Next Tuesday, cast your vote for Dean Scontras for Congress. Maine needs people like him now more than ever.

Ted Ropple assisted Dean Scontras’ campaign through June 2010. He welcomes comments and discussion at his website: www.tedropple.com.