Michael Michaud

Latest Articles

Drawing a line

Bipartisan agreement
Remain calm. You've probably heard that a special commission has failed to reach bipartisan agreement on a plan to redraw the boundary between Maine's two congressional districts in order to make their populations as close to equal as possible. Don't panic.
By AL DIAMON | September 07, 2011

Don't say the words

On the campaign trail
Raye is part of the moderate wing of the GOP, fiscally conservative but close to the middle on social issues.
By AL DIAMON | August 31, 2011

What the health-care bill really means

Reforming the System
On Tuesday, President Barack Obama signed the new health-care bill into law.
By DEIRDRE FULTON | March 24, 2010

Don't make promises

Paul LePage's disastrous mistake
In writing a weekly political column, you learn not to use the first paragraph to make extravagant claims you can't possibly deliver on.
By AL DIAMON | February 24, 2010

Operators are standing by

Blah Blah Tourism
Here's the ugly truth about Republican 2nd District congressional candidate Jason Levesque.
By AL DIAMON | February 03, 2010

Call for health-care reform

Letters to the Portland Editor, December 25, 2009
The November 7 passage of health-care reform, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, in the House of Representatives was a very important and exciting moment for everyone who is dedicated to the idea that all Americans need and deserve access to high quality, affordable health care.
By PORTLAND PHOENIX LETTERS | December 22, 2009

Hey, hey, we're the Monkees

Politics and other mistakes
The law of averages says if you put 100 monkeys in a room with 100 computers, they'll eventually write a workable national health-care bill. Apparently, that rule doesn't apply to 100 US senators.
By AL DIAMON | September 02, 2009

Light that failed

How is Maine's term-limits law working?
How has Maine's term-limit law, restricting legislators to eight consecutive years in office, been working since it was approved by voters in 1993?
By AL DIAMON | March 25, 2009

Acid tongue

Politics and other mistakes
Watch your mouth.
By AL DIAMON | February 04, 2009

Way to normal

Politics and other mistakes
No offense, but you're totally unqualified to decide who my wife's boss is.
By AL DIAMON | December 10, 2008

Here come the bugs

Politics and other mistakes
I'm not one of those people who assumes that just because somebody casually mentions they're thinking about running for governor of Maine in 2010, that they should be restrained, subjected to electro-shock therapy, and deported to someplace where they can't do any harm.
By AL DIAMON | November 19, 2008

All the ugly people

Politics and other mistakes
Why did Maine voters give overwhelming approval to a tax-repeal referendum on Nov. 4, while simultaneously returning to office even more of the Democratic legislators who passed the unpopular tax in the first place?
By AL DIAMON | November 12, 2008

Endorsements, or lack thereof

The Phoenix ’s picks for this election
The Phoenix makes no endorsement for the United States Senate. Neither Republican Susan Collins, the incumbent, nor Democratic challenger Tom Allen would agree to talk with this paper.
By PHOENIX EDITORIAL STAFF | October 31, 2008

Playing the angel

Politics and other mistakes
Former congressman David Emery’s correct in thinking that public campaign financing is a luxury the state can’t afford, but his aversion to Clean Election money seems to be more a matter of convenience than conviction.
By AL DIAMON | October 27, 2008

The gulf of Maine

Senator Collins votes the Bush line 77 percent of the time; her challenger, Representative Allen, weighs in at 18 percent. Will these numbers decide November’s election?
With a massively unpopular Republican president leaving office, this year’s Senate election is a contest based on a candidate’s alignment with Bush.
By JEFF INGLIS | October 09, 2008

Whole new ball game

Politics and other mistakes
John Frary is a politician in the same sense that I’m the commissioner of Major League Baseball.
By AL DIAMON | September 04, 2008

Letters to the Portland editor, June 20, 2008

Getting Michaud's record straight
We would like to thank and congratulate Jeff Inglis for his vivid and thoughtful account of his night in the replica of a cell from Guantánamo that was placed in Portland’s Monument Square.
By LETTERS TO THE PORTLAND EDITOR | June 18, 2008

A night in Guantánamo

Staying in a replica cell, with no waterboarding included
I’d volunteered to spend the night in the replica cell (which is modeled on the ones at Gitmo) because we’ve all heard stories about unlivable conditions at Gitmo but can’t come close to imagining what it must be like.
By JEFF INGLIS | June 18, 2008

Bad words and warnings

Politics and other mistakes
And now, a few positive words about negative advertising.
By AL DIAMON | May 28, 2008

Whatchu talkin’ about?

Politics and other mistakes
“It’s like going through puberty again.”
By AL DIAMON | March 26, 2008

Know your superdelegates

Democratic insiders in Maine and throughout the country will decide the party's nominee
If they choose wisely, they’ll follow the will of the people all the way into the Oval Office.
By BRIDGET HUBER | March 12, 2008

Show up and blow up

Politics and other mistakes
I’d like a word with the 30 percent of Maine’s adult population that never, under any circumstances, votes.
By AL DIAMON | January 09, 2008

D.C. wannabes

Twelve people want to represent you in Washington; we explain who they are as the winnowing begins
Already some candidates have come and gone, but the field remains wide open as candidates prepare for the June 2008 primaries.
By DEIRDRE FULTON | December 26, 2007