PULSE: Edward D. Murphy

Business has 'impact' on election

Copyright © 2004 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

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On the surface, this year's election didn't seem favorable to those looking to advance a pro-business agenda.

In Maine, at least, John Kerry beat George W. Bush, who touted his tax cuts as one of the chief accomplishments of his first term in office.

The proposal to slash Maine's property taxes was overwhelmingly defeated. And Democrats took majorities in both the state House and Senate.

But Abigail Holman, executive director of the business-backed Alliance for Maine's Future - which provided employers with "talking points" for the run-up to the election - said she's happy with how the election turned out.

"We think we had a real impact," Holman said. "Almost all (of the candidates), whether a Democrat or a Republican, acknowledged that the top issue was the economy. We helped shape the debate."

Holman said the alliance endorsed candidates in many of the state legislative races and 70 percent of the candidates it backed won. The majority were Republicans, she said, but there were some Democrats as well.

The alliance advocated an aggressive approach to the election, encouraging businesses to talk to employees about the issues, stressing Maine's high taxes, relatively low incomes and struggling economy.

It didn't pull any punches, suggesting that employers tell workers that "Maine's Legislature is unresponsive to business concerns and to creating economic opportunities," among other messages.

The one prohibition, Holman pointed out, was that employers were not to tell employees how they should vote.

"We don't cross the line and we make sure that they don't," Holman said, referring to the hundreds of businesses that she said participated in the alliance's get-out-the-vote effort.

As a measure of success, she said, the alliance distributed 20,000 absentee ballots through businesses to their employees.

Holman said voters are open to hearing how the election might affect their employer because policies that have an impact on businesses naturally have an impact on workers' lives.

"People feel strongly about Maine's weak economy," she said. "Maine, for a decade, has had the highest taxes in the country and our median income is going down. That's an issue that has to be addressed."

Holman's group worked with the Maine Economic Research Institute, which rated legislators and candidates on where they stand on business and economic issues.

Edward J. McLaughlin, president and chief executive officer of MERI, said he's still analyzing the results to determine whether voters followed the rankings in making their selections. But he said the institute distributed 50,000 voters' guides this year, and he counts that as a success, regardless of who won or lost.

"We think people are paying attention," he said.

Both McLaughlin and Holman said they view 2004 as a starting point for greater political activism among Maine's business community, so expect to hear more at work about politics.

But even though the two groups are sponsored by businesses, McLaughlin said a strong economy is nonpartisan.

"Which party is in power, that doesn't matter," he said. "What we're hoping to do is see some improvement over time and obviously, the endgame is to see the economy doing well."