Paul LePage, the TeaOP candidate for governor in Maine, is running neck and neck with Democratic candidate Libby Mitchell, despite his loony climate-denying, DEP-bashing, creationism-in-schools-touting, offshore-oil-dr … spilling platform.

LePage has slipped nearly 20 points in the polls recently, largely due to some incendiary comments outlined below, and he now finds himself in a dead heat with Mitchell.

LePage is a Tea Party favorite thanks to his very vocal support for teaching creationism in schools, opposition to women’s right to choose and same-sex marriages, support for opening up the Gulf of Maine coastline to offshore oil and gas drilling, and of course his view that global warming is a “scam,” a popular — if wholly unfounded and mind-bogglingly delusional — talking point this election season among TeaOP congressional and gubernatorial candidates nationwide. He once declared, “The Tea Party is the second revolution.”

His environmental platform sounds like a defense of the status quo addiction to antiquated energy sources and continued neglect for public health.

LePage says regulations from Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection often “serve no purpose except to cost businesses money,” echoing the James Watt-era fervor for dismantling pesky environmental agencies that would dare to hold industries financially accountable for their illegal pollution. 

Rather than harness Maine’s abundant supplies of wind, wood, and waves to create a sustainable energy future for his state, LePage would prefer offshore oil drilling in the Gulf of Maine (at the risk of destroying Maine’s proud multibillion-dollar tourism and fishing industries), building two expensive, risky nuclear plants, and importing foreign hydropower from Canada.

But LePage’s ire is targeted at plenty of other bogeymen besides environmentalists. 

Living up to his nickname “LeRage,” Paul LePage has been on a LeRampage lately, sharing with voters some choice words for the media and for President Obama.  He “jokingly” threatened to punch a reporter this week, after previously telling another reporter to “stop the bullshit” when asked about allegations that he and his wife may be defrauding Florida and Maine by claiming residency in both.

He also loudly proclaimed that if he were elected, Mainers would enjoy regular headlines of “Governor LePage tells Obama to go to hell.” Watch: 

When asked at a press conference about the allegation that LePage and his wife claimed primary residency in two states to take advantage of in-state tuition for their children in Florida while also enjoying tax breaks as full-time homesteaders in Maine, LePage angrily interrupted the reporter, telling her to “stop the bullshit and let’s answer the questions the way they should be answered.” Watch:

Seems LePage hasn’t figured out who asks and who answers questions at a press conference. Must be a liberal media conspiracy.

LePage also professes a desire to work in a bipartisan fashion if elected. Except he shows his cards by declaring, “If you can’t convince them [Democrats], there’s always the veto.”