It may be a bit naive of us to believe this, but we think most people who vote for someone to represent their interests in the state Legislature actually expect that person to, well, represent their interests in the Legislature.

But if that was the expectation held by people who voted for Rep. Diane Russell, D-Portland, they were disappointed this week.

That’s because, with the Legislature in session and all sorts of bills being heard in committee sessions, Russell left town. In fact, she left the state entirely, getting in her car and driving 1,296 miles to Madison, Wis., to show support for the teachers and others protesting at the state Capitol there.

What Russell said is that she felt compelled to be there instead of at the Maine Capitol, where she was actually being paid by taxpayers to represent them.

“Compelled” is a strong word, and in most cases it means that the person under compulsion has no choice but to comply with demands.

People being kidnapped, for example, are compelled to accompany their captors. People drafted into the military are compelled to serve.

But it’s an odd word to describe someone who, of her own free will, abandoned the duty for which she had been elected and for which she was being paid to drive across at least nine states to support people who had not elected her and did not pay her salary.

Of course, she was free to do that, as no one was “compelling” her to remain where she had promised to be when she took her oath of office as a legislator: Augusta, Maine.

Which, as has been noted, is 1,296 miles from where she ended up this week. Mainers may wish she’d liked it enough to stay.

 

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