When Republican Bobby Charles and Democrat Troy Jackson faced off for a gubernatorial debate in in Auburn earlier this week, moderators began by expressing hope that the unusual pre-primary, cross-party event would prove “a civil, substantive and informative forum.”

I’m sad to say it didn’t turn out that way.

What happened instead was like social media come to life, with living, breathing men standing beside each other tossing nasty zingers, making over-the-top promises and catering to supporters who were somehow following their clipped references to esoteric stuff played out online for months.

While I’m not sure the average Mainer could make much sense of the event —  in a murky race with way too many candidates — it had some weird entertainment value. 

For Charles, a security consultant and former assistant secretary of state, the debate cemented his GOP frontrunner status — a position he has no business possessing having had no role in political life in Maine until last year, when he announced his campaign and began tossing racist barbs that impressed local Trump loyalists.

Jackson, the former state Senate president and the candidate who issued the invitation to debate, also boosted his standing by engaging in a high-profile confrontation with a Republican foe that Maine Democrats have grown to loathe.

As the two men wrangled, Charles said Troy was “living down to all the expectations I had for him. This is literally …”

“Ditto,” Jackson interjected.

“Yeah, this is a mudsling,” Charles replied.

Jackson called Charles a hypocrite, a coward, “a little man” and a race-baiter. Charles called Jackson “a corrupt politician” and a poster child for state failures.

He also insisted Jackson wasn’t the working-class champion he portrays himself as. “This is a guy who hangs out with the big union bosses,” Charles said. “He’s not rank-and-file anymore.”

Jackson shrugged it off, telling his foe, “I don’t care what you say about me. You do not bother me a bit, Bobby.”

It’s not that the two men never touched on the issues of the day. They did, albeit only a little, and neither said anything that surprised anyone.

“I know this was kind of erratic and hectic and all over the place,” Jackson said, toward the end of the night, “and probably not what gubernatorial candidates probably should do.”

True enough. The debate left me with a queasy feeling about the sinking standards of political discourse. As bad as it became in Auburn Wednesday night, I fear Maine’s campaigns are likely to grow even uglier.

Unless, of course, the men and women who want to lead our state hear from voters who demand better.

Before the foul-mouthed former Gov. Paul LePage moved into the Blaine House after the 2010 race, Maine had a national reputation for robust, elevated state politics. Maine was recognized as a place that elected good people to its highest offices, including names like Sens. Margaret Chase Smith, Edmund Muskie and Olympia Snowe. For years, its governors were nearly as impressive.

Independent-minded voters rewarded those who waged campaigns that honored the state’s traditions and decency, the likes run by Sen. Angus King in both Augusta and Washington.

We should not be treating politics as a blood sport that leaves every contender wounded.

We can, and should, insist that our would-be leaders treat each other with courtesy. That’s the only way that candidates can show voters they are capable of the respect required to sustain a democracy.

Let’s try, at least, to have a civil, substantive and informative race.