AUBURN – The four major gubernatorial candidates came together Thursday for an early -morning showdown.

On the dais together for at least the dozenth time, the four put on an energetic program for the almost 300 members of the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce gathered at the Hilton Garden Inn to see them.

Incumbent Gov. John Baldacci, Green Independent Pat LaMarche, independent Barbara Merrill and Republican Chandler Woodcock took turns answering questions posed by chamber members, while also mixing in mild shots at one another.

The questions swirled around issues of particular interest to small business, which make up the bulk of the chamber’s members, and the candidates tried to tailor their remarks to their audience, often invoking local references and anecdotes.

Woodcock, a three-term state senator from Farmington, alluded to his birth in Mechanic Falls. LaMarche confided her deeply personal experiences with St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center, where her children were born, and Central Maine Medical Center, where her mother died, while also recalling Ward Bros., a local retail institution that no longer exists.

Baldacci was all business, pointing to L-A as a bastion of growth and as a community that gets it. He talked about the successful redevelopment of Bates Mill and revitalization of the two cities’ downtowns.

And Merrill, a one-term state representative from Appleton, bragged about the important leadership role the Androscoggin Chamber has played in the state.

Besides playing to the home crowd, the candidates also engaged in a serious policy debate moderated by L-A College professor Betty Robinson.

On the first question of the day, Woodcock differentiated himself from his three opponents with his support for the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, which will appear on November’s ballot as Question 1.

Woodcock said the state badly needs to control its spending and do a better job of prioritizing its services.

Baldacci, LaMarche and Merrill agreed that property taxes particular are a problem, but argued that TABOR was a poor solution.

“I equate it to not being able to trust your children any more and you lock them in their room,” LaMarche said. “That doesn’t make them more trustworthy. You just know where they are.”

What’s needed she said, and Merrill echoed, is new leadership.

“Part of the real problem has been the lack of fiscal discipline at the state level,” Merrill said.

The Androscoggin Chamber has taken a position against TABOR, which would strictly limit government revenue and spending and require a complicated procedure to override the limits.

The candidates were also asked what they would do to combat Maine’s high tax burden.

Baldacci said he would first cap the amount that year-round homes could rise in valuation and mandate that 90 percent of new state level support for K-12 education be used for property tax relief.

LaMarche said she would look for new revenue streams, and particularly a tax on water extraction.

Merrill supported Baldacci’s idea for a cap, adding a pox on both houses: “That bill was the victim of excessive partisanship in the Legislature. The two parties couldn’t come together, and that’s why TABOR is lingering.”

And Woodcock said the state needs to move away from taxing wealth and consider use taxes while also re-examining state spending and controlling the rise in Medicaid spending.

On health care, LaMarche offered a single-payer, universal plan. Merrill and Woodcock proposed reducing regulations on health insurance and increasing competition, while Baldacci defended Dirigo Health and its role in fixing the health care problem in the state.

“No one anywhere else is tackling it like the state of Maine,” Baldacci said. “This should be done on the national level, but Mainers want to address it now.”

On the Androscoggin River, LaMarche and Merrill criticized the Baldacci administration for practices that eventually led to the resignation of Department of Environmental Protection Commission Dawn Gallagher.

Baldacci admitted that mistakes had been made, but also said that the state is now on the right track and that new standards will clean up the river faster. Woodcock, however, advocated for returning to less rigorous standards negotiated in the Legislature. Baldacci was adamant: “We’re not going backward on that standard.”

Throughout his answers, Woodcock said that Maine needs to be more predictable for businesses, the regulatory environment needs to be fixed and taxes need to be lowered.

“If Maine is going to move forward in this new millennium,” Woodcock said, “it will have to have a leader who’s focused on economic vitality.”

Independent gubernatorial candidate Phillip Morris NaPier did not attend the forum.