AUBURN — During a visit to celebrate the Maine Republican Party’s new Androscoggin County headquarters at 120 Center St. on Wednesday, Gov. Paul LePage delivered a 30-minute pep talk to the party faithful.

Cheering him on were about 100 people and Maine GOP Chairman Rick Bennett, who called LePage “the best CEO this state has ever seen in the governor’s chair.”

Bennett may have been trying to refute the “bad CEO” label LePage’s Democratic opponents have attempted to pin on him.

LePage tore into a list of issues, touching on everything from education and welfare reform to Maine’s notoriously high energy costs. He also offered several candid comments about his first four years as governor and noted that his time as governor has included some of the best parts of his life and some of the worst.

“The best part of my life is I’ve been hired to work for the people of the state of Maine and I’m very humble and very proud,” LePage said. “The worst part of my life is newspapers are still alive. Sorry; I had to say it.”

LePage talked about his efforts to pay back the state’s share of a $738 million debt to hospitals, a total that includes both state and federal funds.  

The governor also spoke of his work to change the state’s education system, touting several pilot programs launched under his administration that saw a select group of high school students accelerate their studies and obtain some college credits or certifications in technical trades.

On the first day of school for many students in Lewiston-Auburn, LePage said the issue of public education reform would be a topic voters and the media would hear a lot about in coming weeks.

LePage also spoke about a recent television attack ad launched against him by a political action committee that criticizes him for rolling back environmental protection for the state’s waterways. LePage joked that he likes water just fine.

“I do like water; I take a shower every day,” he said. “I even drank two bottles this afternoon.”

He suggested that Maine’s rivers, including the Androscoggin, which runs between Lewiston and Auburn, are much cleaner than when he was growing up in Lewiston. He said he swam in the river once when he was a kid.

“I will admit I did swim in the Androscoggin River 50 years ago. You couldn’t see me because there was a foot of foam,” LePage said to applause and laughter.

LePage also spoke about his sometimes off-color language and shoot-from-the-hip comments. He paraphrased Shakespeare: “You can love me or you can hate me, it matters not. If you love me, I’m in your heart; if you hate me, I’m in your head.”

Earlier, LePage said the coming election in which he is challenged by 2nd District U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine, and independent Eliot Cutler would end up one of two ways.

“You can either vindicate me or you can throw me out,” LePage said.

sthistle@sunjournal.com

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 1:05 p.m. Aug. 28, 2014 – to reflect the correct amount of the state hospital debt paid down by LePage’s administration.

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