Three weeks ago, this humble blog posted about the views of Representatives Chellie Pingree and Bruce Poliquin on the TPP. That post got a grand total of about 185 views, but I would like to think that Bruce Poliquin was one of them. In the article, I pointed out that Poliquin was hedging on his position and that the prevailing political winds he was facing were blowing in a decidedly pro-TPP direction. But yesterday, he came out strongly against it:

He even cites the “powerful interests down in Washington” that he is eschewing. I can only imagine that he read my blog, as I’m sure he does regularly, and decided then and there to get to work on the script for that video above.

In all seriousness, based on his prior statements on the issue, I would not have guessed that Poliquin would come out as firmly against the TPP as he just did. He represents another Republican down in the push for free trade, which is (was?) an old platform piece of the Party. Opposing an old tenet like that can be challenging, although he is not alone; Poliquin of course joins Ted Cruz and Donald Trump in opposition to the deal, in addition to some fellow Republicans in Congress.

I plan to post my piece on the TPP overall and its effects on Maine early next week. In the meantime, I’d like to say thanks to all of my readers in Congress.

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