In the Arena

This week, on the final episode of “In The Arena,” Pat, Ethan and Phil dive into whether a positive message of hope is possible in today's Republican Party and whether Gov. Mills did a good job with her commission investigating the deadly shootings in Lewiston.   Then they bring back a listener favorite, “Newsworthy or Snoozeworthy,” in which they take on some of the topics of the day, including CMP crowing after their win over Pine Tree Power, Donald Trump officially submitting signatures to be on the Maine ballot, and Portland Mayor-elect Mark Dion saying consensus is not his goal.   They tally up all the predictions Phil and Ethan made so far and determine a winner. And finally, Pat tells a story about how Bill Cohen likely saved the life of his good friend Don Carrigan.

This week, on Episode 7 of “In The Arena," Pat, Ethan and Phil take a look ahead to 2024, now that the 2023 elections are in the rear-view mirror. They dive in to Rep. Jared Golden's re-election, and the likely Biden/Trump matchup in Maine.  Phil and Ethan make some “way too early" predictions for next November, including who's likely to win each of Maine's federal races, who our next senate President and Speaker of the House will be, and a couple of wild card predictions.          And Pat shares a story about Pres. Barack Obama taking out the trash.

This week, on Episode 6 of ‘In The Arena,' Pat, Phil and Ethan take a closer look at the 2023 election results. Why did Pine Tree Power lose? How did Mark Dion win the race for Portland mayor? How was incumbent Auburn Mayor Jason Levesque ousted? And which of the statewide initiatives that passed will have the most impact on Maine's future?

On episode 5 of “In The Arena," Pat, Phil and Ethan review all of the statewide ballot questions and constitutional amendments. Ethan and Phil make predictions on all of these questions, and explain the implications and forecast the mayoral races in Portland, Lewiston, Auburn and Biddeford.  And Pat offers an election night story about how the lowering of a flag confirmed a victory for a gubernatorial candidate for governor.

This week, on Episode 4 of "In The Arena," Pat, Ethan and Phil look into into the Lewiston shootings to understand what happened and possible solutions to prevent it from happening again. They address Jared Golden's reversal on his previous opposition to an assault weapons ban, the adequacy of Maine's yellow flag law, and what further steps Maine and Governor Mills should take on gun safety and mental health care. In their lightning round, the three discuss a bunch of new laws that took effect last week and determine if each is "good, bad or inadequate," including the new law expanding abortion access, allowing gender-affirming care for 16 & 17 year olds without parental consent and a cap on application fees for landlords. Finally, Phil and Ethan make some political predictions and Pat recounts a story about a certain former president and his critique of his wife's tennis play at Walker's Point.

This week, on Episode 3 of "In The Arena," Pat, Phil and Ethan discuss the mass shootings in Lewiston, specifically mental health needs and gun control.   Later in the podcast, they dive into the battle for a House speaker Maine's failure to protect children under DHHS custody and surveillance. In the lightning round, Pat asks whether the right call was made on several issues, including the Ethics Commission's exoneration of Senate President Troy Jackson, Mayor Kate Snyder endorsing Mark Dion for her job, a legislative attempt to stop neo-nazi groups, and Waterville's idea to buy yurts for the homeless.   We get predictions from Phil and Ethan, and Pat recounts a story about covering Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.

This week, on Episode 2 of “In The Arena," Pat, Phil and Ethan discuss the war in Gaza and Pine Tree Power. Ethan talks about balancing the competing forces swirling in Jewish communities around Israel/Palestine, and Phil addresses the “America First” swing of the Republican party in recent years, and whether the GOP is now demanding allegiance to financial support for Israel.   The three also get into the issue of Pine Tree Power, the public utility at the heart of the Question 3 referendum, the history of how we got here, pros and cons, and its chances of passage.   In a lightning round, Pat asks whether a number of recent political events were “smart” or “not smart” including potential legislation banning sweeps of homeless encampments, the Lewiston City Council's dismissal of its president and a fellow member, a state agency requesting $9 million in state money for legal services for our low income defendants, and whether former Pres. Trump's free speech rights were really violated by a judge's gag order. Ethan and Phil offer some political predictions, and Pat recounts a story about a surprising pop culture reference Sen. George Mitchell once made in response to a State of the Union address by Pres. Ronald Reagan.

This week, on the first episode of “In The Arena," Pat, Phil and Ethan discuss Maine Rep. Jared Golden's Republican opponent Austin Theriault, the political implications of Hamas' attack on Israel and the Portland mayoral race. In their lightning round, the three debate what's 'newsworthy' and 'snooze worthy,' including Republicans filing an ethics complaint against Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, Gov. Mills' opposition to the Pine Tree Power referendum, opponents of CMP being paid to campaign for the company, Mills' puzzling social media post and whether former Gov. Paul LePage might be gunning for Maine Sen. Angus King's seat. Finally, Pat recounts a fun story from former Sen. George Mitchell about his longtime mentor and former U.S. Secretary of State Ed Muskie.