LEWISTON — With just over two weeks remaining before Election Day, the five gubernatorial candidates are making final tweaks to their campaigns.

The changes, some more subtle than others, were on full display Thursday, as the candidates gathered at the Ramada Inn Conference Center for a forum hosted by the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce. The event was attended by more than 400 people.

Two of the candidates, independents Eliot Cutler and Shawn Moody, added new wrinkles to their message.

Cutler, whose support is surging according to a latest Rasmussen poll, departed slightly from his previous pointed attacks against Democrat Libby Mitchell and Republican Paul LePage to strike a tone of hope, saying Maine is poised for the greatest “turnaround” of any state in the country.

“When we start focusing on success instead of worrying about our failures, we are going to take off and nobody is going to stop us,” Cutler said.

The Cape Elizabeth resident used the word “change” nearly two dozen times in his opening and closing remarks. He also took direct aim at his viability wall — the theory that Mainers won’t vote for him because they don’t think he can win.

“The only wasted vote is a vote for someone you don’t believe in,” he said.

Moody, on the other hand, appeared to target LePage’s would-be supporters by highlighting his small-business background and rise from a single-family home.

“Mr. LePage talks about living the American dream, but I started living the American dream when I was 17,” said Moody, referencing the age at which he started his business.

Mitchell emphasized her legislative record and sought to deflect anger over high unemployment and tough economic times elsewhere.

“We are in the midst of a global recession,” Mitchell said, emphasizing “global.” She added that Maine’s way out of the malaise was a combination of government reform and strengthening the economy through renewable-energy development.

LePage, meanwhile, re-emphasized his plan to rein in government spending and spur business growth. LePage, who says he grew up on the streets of Lewiston after leaving home at age 11, earned applause for beginning his opening remarks in French.

“It’s a pleasure to be home,” he said.

Independent Kevin Scott later claimed the other candidates were “cheerleaders.”

“I’m a player,” he said.

The forum wasn’t all rehearsed remarks. The candidates were each given one minute to address several issues, including the state’s business climate, budget reform, health care, welfare reform, transportation and tax reform.

Each candidate was asked to rate the business climate on a scale of one to 10 and explain how they would improve it.

Cutler rated the business climate as a 2, saying the state needed to focus on reducing the price of electricity and major health care and government reforms.

LePage, rating the state between 2 and 3, also favored reducing electricity rates and removing regulations that discouraged business growth.

Mitchell gave the state a 5, saying reducing health care costs and focusing on renewable energy were critical to improving that rank.

Moody said the state should focus on its existing small businesses.

“I think there are 30,000 small businesses in the state,” he said. “If each one of them hired one person, that’s 30,000 new jobs.”

Scott ranked the state between 2 and 3.

On budget reduction, LePage reiterated his desire to remove income tax from pension plans — a proposal that Cutler has repeatedly criticized as adding to the state’s $800 million deficit. LePage also said he’d reform welfare and education.

LePage has proposed increasing the state’s student-teacher ratio, which Democrats have said would result in teacher layoffs. He said he would make sure money would get into the classrooms, but he wouldn’t “buy all the bells and whistles.”

Scott reiterated his plan to institute a voluntary 32-hour workweek for state employees.

The candidates also debated welfare reform. LePage proposed a five-year limit on individuals receiving money from the state’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

“If you’re going to get a welfare check, you should have to work for it,” he said.

Moody’s position was similar. He said the state has to change welfare so that it becomes a “lifeline,” not a “lifestyle.”

Cutler said the system has to be restructured so welfare recipients aren’t penalized for taking low-paying jobs.

“We need to stop just paying victims and start changing the policies in Maine that create the victims,” Cutler said.

In his closing remarks LePage attempted to differentiate himself from his top challengers in the polls, Mitchell and Cutler.

“I’m not a politician and I’m not a (Washington), D.C., lobbyist,” he said.

Mitchell said she was proud to have passed a budget in the Legislature without raising taxes and “taking care of the people who need it.” She also continued to appeal to women voters.

“We need to listen to all voices, not only those of our businesses, but our teachers and mothers,” she said.

Cutler tried to stake the middle ground of Maine’s independent and undecided voters by calling LePage the “wrong kind of change” and Mitchell “just about no change at all.”

smistler@sunjournal.com

Remaining television debates for the gubernatorial race:

• Oct. 18, WMTW Channel 8, 7-8 p.m.

• Oct. 20, WCSH Channel 6, 8-9 p.m.

• Oct. 26, WAGM Channel 8 (Presque Isle), 7-8:30 p.m.

• Oct. 27, WABI Channel 5 (Bangor), 7-8:30 p.m.

• Oct. 28, MPBN Channel 10 (90.1 FM radio), at Bates College, 7-9 p.m.

• Oct. 30, WGME Channel 13, 8-9 p.m.*

* Tentative

Remaining local, non-televised forums

– Oct. 21, Natural Resources Council of Maine forum at University of Southern Maine Glickman Library, 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.

– Oct. 22, Maine School Management Association Forum at Augusta Civic Center, 11 a.m to 12:30 p.m.

Remaining televised debates for the 2nd Congressional District:

• Oct. 15, MPBN Channel 10 (90.1 FM radio), 8 p.m. 

• Oct. 27, WCSH Channel 6, 7 p.m.

• Nov. 1, MPBN Channel 10 (90.1 FM radio), 1 p.m.

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