Election notice
The Bangor Daily News is no longer accepting election-related letters and commentary. The newspaper will continue to publish such letters and commentary through the Nov. 1-2 issue. Not all submissions can be published.
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Johnson open-minded
I am supporting Rep. Pete Johnson for re-election to the Legislature. I first met Pete at a Greenville town meeting. Pete had some concerns about the cost of running the school and asked many important questions. After the meeting I spoke to Pete and told him we had an opening on the school board and I suggested he run for it. Pete did and was elected.
As a board member, Pete displayed a great ability to gain knowledge and then to use that knowledge to rethink his position on an issue. If he found that the new knowledge he gained did not support his position, Pete was willing to change. This is a rare and wonderful characteristic.
Rep. Johnson is the vice president of the Maine Small Schools Coalition and has shown he is willing to work hard to preserve local control of education. He knows our schools are important to community development, but he also knows that we must find better ways of funding education.
Richard A. Gould
Greenville
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Joe Perry a treasure
I have a son who had a six-month deployment. Upon his return I saw Sen. Joe Perry and approached him to see if he could get an American flag which had been flown over the state Capitol. I wanted the flag so I could give it to my son as a “coming home” gift.
Shortly thereafter along came Sen. Perry not only with the flag, but also with a wonderful description of the flag flying over the Capitol, a letter from the governor thanking my son for his service and to top it off, a handsome leather-bound proclamation from the full Legislature thanking my son for serving the state and nation. He gave all of these special items to me for my son.
I reside just outside Sen. Perry’s district so I can’t vote for him. He did all this for me and in honor of my son, and I am not able to give him my vote. I can tell you, even though I am a Republican, I would give him my vote in a heartbeat if I lived in Bangor or Hermon. His willingness to go above and beyond for someone who doesn’t even live in his district gives insight into the caring, strong character of Sen. Joe Perry. I hope and pray the good people of Bangor and Hermon know what a treasure they have in their state senator and I urge them to re-elect him to the Maine Senate.
Bev Nadeau
Veazie
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Has doubts about Palin
During the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, the world came perilously close to nuclear war. This horror was averted when the Soviet Union agreed to remove its missiles and personnel from Cuba in return for a commitment from the United States not to invade Cuba, and to remove our missiles from Turkey.
Apparently, this lesson from 1962 has been forgotten by our present leaders. We certainly would not tolerate Russian missiles in Cuba today, so why would anyone be naive enough to think Russia will tolerate our missiles and military personnel in Poland and Georgia?
Democracy is not an intramural activity. If we expect it to work on the world stage, we need to practice it at that level. It is naive to expect anyone (particularly Russia) to believe our reason for putting missiles in Poland is protection from missiles of “rogue nations” when the obvious reason is the strategic encirclement of Russia. It appears that our actions in Poland and Georgia have successfully rekindled the Cold War.
The ability of our presidential and vice presidential candidates to deal with this critical issue warrants careful consideration. Sarah Palin addressed this issue during the vice presidential debate, and the flippant manner in which she alluded to the U.S. taking military action against Russia to protect Georgia’s democracy casts grave doubts on her qualification for the office of vice president.
Gene Wilbur
Parkman
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We need Collins
As we approach the Nov. 4 elections, we should all give serious thought to determine who can best represent us in Washington.
We need a person who is honest, intelligent, caring, dependable, of great integrity and one who will work hard to help solve our nation’s problems during these trying times.
Susan Collins is that person to return to the U.S. Senate from Maine. She is a great senator who has certainly proved over the past few years that she can and will work diligently across party lines. She is able to look at the big picture and then, in a bipartisan way, take action to find the right solutions for our state and country.
We, as a state and as a nation need Susan Collins in the Senate.
Anita Leonard
Old Town
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Write-in Hoffman
Last weekend, I was glad to see that the Bangor Daily News was running what seemed to be lengthy articles about the candidates for Senate.
In the midst of the high drama and conflict of the presidential race, it’s good to see how the issues on the forefront of the national stage are interpreted by our own politicians here in Maine.
But as I flipped through the pages I just could not find where the piece about Herbert Hoffman was, letting me conclude that the BDN staff had taken a hard stance against his candidacy. Therefore, I am writing to remind readers (and staff), that according to the Maine secretary of state and the Federal Elections Commission, Hoffman is still a qualified write-in candidate. If they wish to find out about the true complexity of the Maine political landscape, they may have to find out for themselves by visiting hoffmanforsenate.us.
I find this omission especially bothersome since neither Susan Collins nor Tom Allen seems willing to stand firmly along their party lines: Collins is claiming “bipartisanship” (a new code word for lack of party integrity) and Allen voted twice for the Patriot Act, the act of Congress which now allows law enforcement to search your home without your knowledge and hold foreign nationals indefinitely without trial.
In sharp contrast, Herbert Hoffman’s agenda stands for real change: single-payer universal health care, ending the war, bringing jobs back to America, energy sustainability and campaign finance reform.
Orson Horchler
Ellsworth