Yes on 1
A “yes on Question 1” vote will affirm the inherent worth and dignity of every person.
A “yes on 1” vote will extend justice, equity and compassion for all Maine citizens.
A “yes on 1” is a response to God’s love by loving our neighbors as ourselves.
R. Upton Nelson
Bangor
Pease supporter
As the former sheriff of Waldo County and a retired game warden, for the past 40-plus years I’ve had the pleasure to live with and to serve the folks in my area to the best of my ability.
Along the way, I met many other folks who also were serving their communities in a commendable way. One of them, Republican Jethro Pease of Morrill, is currently running for the House of Representatives.
I’ve known Pease personally for many years. He was a sharp businessman working in Belfast and Bucksport as the owner of McDonald’s franchises. He is a good friend of mine and a dedicated firefighter in Morrill. He was a dedicated Waldo County commissioner and as a citizen, he often could be found volunteering to work on many causes geared to aid and assist those in need who were living within his area.
Pease never sought out recognition for his efforts, nor did he ever decline to aid a person in need if he heard about their struggles. He has gained a high amount of respect within our communities.
He has raised a great family. Both of his sons currently are conducting their own respectable careers, providing a valuable service to the state of Maine.
I know he’ll give the citizens his all, and he’ll do so always with their best interest at heart.
I urge you to join me in supporting a man with integrity, honesty and a sense of community dedication.
John Ford Sr.
Brooks
Vote Dunbar
Every four years we get bombarded and oversaturated with political media content. We get all democratically excited to vote on the national level. Afterward we may experience voter regret, feeling that our concerns and promises stated were not addressed. I think more is required of our citizenship than just paying attention to presidential elections. Who can really address what we want as citizen representation? Well, the answer is not that complicated. Our local representative government is more responsible for getting what we need and expect.
Democrat Sharon Dunbar is running in District 40 (Bucksport and Orrington) for state representative. Dunbar is one of the local citizens to speak on our behalf in Augusta. She has put in her personal time, spending countless hours representing issues that the majority of us are interested in, for many years as a citizen. I know her as a motivated and hardworking person who is goal-oriented and gets things done.
She’s also honest, intelligent and listens to people, and those are qualities I look for in a representative. There are big issues facing the state of Maine. I’m supporting Dunbar for the Maine House.
William Beal
Orrington
Seek the truth
Voters in Waldo County should re-elect Susan Longley as county probate judge. She is an honest and forthright public servant. Her dedication to the people of Maine cannot be questioned. I have known Longley since she was a member of former Sen. George Mitchell’s Washington, D.C., staff. I attended her law-school graduation. I closely followed her career as a member of the Maine State Senate, where she was chair of the Judiciary Committee. I supported her initial campaign for Waldo County probate judge.
No amount of negative innuendo or distortion of facts can diminish the reality of her impressive public service record and her unrelenting efforts to improve the lives of all Mainers. Seek the truth and vote accordingly.
Arthur Norton
Camden
Dr. Gratwick: a visionary with integrity
During my six years in Bangor, there were a handful of health care providers who stood out as leaders. Democrat Dr. Geoff Gratwick, of Bangor, is one of those with whom I had the pleasure to interact. At first, I came to know him on a weekly basis, as Gratwick and I were both members of the Bangor Noontime Rotary Club. He has been a consummate member of the community in Bangor for many years, well-respected and a visionary.
Eventually we also crossed paths within the Eastern Maine Medical Center, where we were both on staff, as well as the Bangor City Council. Gratwick has an acute sense of understanding of how best to improve the health of Mainers, and we share many similar views.
When I learned of his desire to run for the state Senate, I could think of no other person with whom I have been engaged in Bangor who fills the desperate need we all have for a thoughtful public servant with integrity. I urge the citizens of Bangor to vote for Gratwick for state senator; there is no better choice for your community.
Jonathan Shenkin, DDS, MPH
Augusta
Down Easters
What a wonderful time to live Down East! Of course, I mean the southern half of Washington County. We know who we are. We live in one of the neediest states in the neediest area. Our great state is showered with more tax dollars from uncle than we pay in. Excuses aside, we have been rewarded due to our unique ability to exist below the federal poverty line. What many folks don’t realize is that we have the distinction of being on the cutting edge of “hope and change.”
We have, by default, become the model for the “Obama-Nation.” I was privileged to have been serving our nation in Germany when Ronald Reagan bankrupted the USSR, and the Wall fell. Traveling across that boundary was amazing; the entire continent was shades of black and white, emaciated citizens living day to day using farm animals to work the land, eking out a pathetic existence. It was inspiring to see them flee across into Germany.
Those countries were of the Obama model and therefore we Down Easters are truly pioneers. The debt that we owe China and the monetizing of trillions of dollars to “stimulate” the economy guarantees hyperinflation. Not to worry, Down Easters will survive; we have been training for decades.
Dave Timpe
Cooper
Money race
The editorial (BDN 10/16) states that $3 billion dollars is estimated to be spent on advertising for political races, such as the U.S. Senate race in Maine, and that most (80-90 percent) of the ads that are bought are negative.
What a waste of money! Much of the money for these ads comes from wealthy men like casino mogul Sheldon Anderson, who plans to spend up to $100 million on the presidential race. This is sad.
The old “robber barons” of the late 19th and early 20th century used their millions to build hospitals, buy and set aside millions of acres for the good of all and do other good works. Think of John D. Rockefeller and Cornelius Vanderbilt, whose names appear on hundreds or thousands of schools, colleges, buildings, hospitals and public parks.
Where are the Rockefellers and Vanderbilts of today? Buying influence. How much better to help take care of their fellow citizens who need good schools, hospitals and open spaces.
Kathleen Fox
Tenants Harbor
Vote for Lloyd Chase
With the current polarized political atmosphere, it is heartening to encounter a candidate for office who is committed to representing the interests and concerns of the constituents of the district that he seeks to represent and not some national agenda.
I have witnessed Democrat Lloyd Chase, candidate for House District 44, taking the time to actively listen and to welcome input from all. As a former manager at Delta Airlines, he knows that effective solutions to the problems we are facing are the result of input from people with differing points of view.
Chase recognizes that the future of our youth and the vitality of our community rest upon a solid public education. He also recognizes the importance of small businesses to our local economy. He will work toward accomplishing these goals by reaching across the aisle to find Maine solutions to Maine problems.
Robert Johnson
Lincolnville
About the Senate
I urge everyone to vote for Republican Charlie Summers and not for independent Angus King on Nov. 6. Why? To be sure, King is a good man, courteous to a fault, and a very good lawyer. But King claims that his business experience qualifies him to help Maine businesses succeed.
King’s business record includes two major successes, first with an “energy conservation” firm that marketed control of electric power and, second, with the construction of wind farms. Both of these enterprises depended on government subsidies. Without the subsidies, the wind business would not exist.
Now, there is nothing wrong with a smart lawyer/businessman exploiting subsidies: good for King, but not good for the health of American business!
Charles A. Berg
Buckfield
Deserves re-election
As an independent builder, small-business owner and former school board member, I strongly endorse Republican Chris Rector for re-election to the Maine State Senate. I endorse Rector for his support of small business and his creative and steady support for education. While a member of the Midcoast Builders Alliance, I worked with Rector to help develop uniform building codes and independent contractor definition. The work that he has done for contractors has established clarity in the building field. Clarity is good for employers, employees and independent contractors. The outcome of Rector’s efforts helps to assure clarity in the building trades where question arise.
In the area of education, Rector is one of the initiators of the Many Flags/One Campus concept that continues to move forward in the midcoast. Rector has long focused on the integration of vocational training and has long taken a leadership role in driving education solutions. He deserves to be re-elected to the state Senate on Nov. 6.
Les Murray
Owls Head
R. Upton Nelson Thank you, and God Bless you from the bottom of my heart. You are a good person.
Amen.
R. Upton Nelson- sorry but no.
nobody’s make you marry anyone so why, vote no?
R. Upton Nelson – if you love your neighbor as yourself, the greatest love you can show him or her is to teach obedience to God and show people the way to salvation. Voting yes on 1 will do just the opposite.
The sin of scandal is to promote sin, or to approve someone in the commission of sin. Jesus Christ said that it would be better for someone to have a millstone tied to his neck and be cast into the sea, rather than to commit the sin of scandal. A yes vote on 1 is to engage in scandal. Christians who are voting no have their own well-being in mind, as well as hoping that others may possibly be saved from entering a life of serious sin.
Prejudice is a sin.
Yes on 1.
Please keep YOUR religion out of the issue. :-p
Maybe you’re trying to be ironic, but I’ve never said that religion should be kept out of the public square. I believe that our politics should reflect our sense of morality. And yes, my religion says that prejudice — whether against people of other races, religions, or sexual orientations — is a sin.
Prejudice against sin is an act of justice.
God loves variety. Some people are born red-headed, some are born with musical talents, some are born with mathematical abilities, some are born Asian, European, or Australian Aboriginie, some are born left-handed, and some are born gy or lesbian. Being born gay is not a sin, but prejudice against gays is a sin.
Because I oppose the sin of prejudice, and support the biblical call to love our neighbors, welcome the stranger, and protect those whose rights are denied, I will vote for justice, “Yes on 1.”
I realize that you wallow in the sin of prejudice, and support the crime of injustice — you’ve made that abundantly clear.
Whose God?
R. U. Nelson, K. Fox; good letters.
C. Berg: no way can I recommend any votes for Charlie Summers.
Let me guess – you are supporting the quintisential one percenter, Angus King? The guy who got rich on legislation he passed while governor of this state which also made Maine’s electric rates some of the highest in the country?
Agreed.
Much, although certainly not all, of the money being spent in this political season is a result of the regrettable Citizens United decision of the U.S. Supreme Court.
K. Fox is right — much of the money spent on the Senate race is wasted.
One of the most comical results of all the political spending in Maine is that the Republicans are buying ads for their own candidate, Charlie Summers, for their alleged “opponent” Cynthia Dill, and against their real opponent independent Angus King. They must have a lot of money to throw away.
This is an incredibly long and annoying political campaign, but we must endure it (or else lock ourselves in the basement) ’till it’s over.
Kathleen The money spent on elections is not “wasted”. The revenue spent supports newspapers TV stations, sign makers, Hotels, Gas stations, leasing companies, real estate companies,restaurants ad companies and on and on. The billions spent every two years nationally keeps people employed. Perhaps you’d rather financiers like Andelson whom you seem to detest, kept it in his bank account?
As for modern day philanthropists like Rockefeller and Vanderbilt who built Hospitals in the 20th century you need to look no further than the Koch brothers. Their contributions include the Museum Of Fine Arts in Boston, Mass General Hospital, MIT, numerous medical research facilities as well as crime and underprivileged youth programs.
Maybe you choose to be blind to the contributions of others both big and small because of your own personal bigotry.
Bigotry? Relax with the hyperbole. You guys are going a bit far with the doublespeak — it’s showing your desperation.
This person wrote showing her own personal bigotry deciding not to acknowledge the billions annually business gives to our society in charitable donations. Her comment about the past highlights it even more. Does she really believe Rockefeller and Vanderbilt didn’t contribute to political causes? If it isn’t bigotry it is outright ignorance.
You hit the nail on the head as usual…
These great men donated millions and millions of dollars to help the American people.
It’s true, the money spent on elections stimulates the local economies just like food stamps.
Economies nationwide. $3 billion dollars plus I guess. Better return than a like amount of food stamps I bet.
Food stamp spending in 2011 was $65 billion.
Ok… but so what? Private political spending adds more to the economy dollar for dollar than food stamps spending. After all government spending needs to be paid back.
Yes, all spending comes from somewhere. So?
Food stamp spending continues to circulate within the economy. One could argue that it gets paid back to the public many times over.
If one wishes to support newspapers and TV stations, that person could buy ads that say “this is a great newspaper” or “this is a great TV station.” But the money for political ads may be regarded as “wasted” if it does not achieve its intended result.
I suspect that the money spent by Republicans in the Maine U.S. Senate race (to support Republican Summers, to support Democrat Dill, and to bash independent King) will not achieve its intended result.
Maybe, but the beneficiaries and our economy certainly don’t believe the cash spent by the campaigns nationally is “waste”. People are eating today because of that “waste.”
You and I may be merely disagreeing on what constitutes a “waste” of money — Yes, you are right that any money spent anywhere helps to support someone somewhere.
I know a man who takes frequent trips overseas, and spends money on the services of prostitutes. He claims he is helping poor women survive in third world countries. Women get to eat, he says, because of the money he spends.
I tell him that if he wants to help poor women I know of a charity that runs a micro-finance program for women to start businesses of their own. And I give to charities that send children to school in Indonesia and the Philippines.
To me the question is, what is the best use of your money?
I suspect that the Republican billionaires who are throwing their money into the Maine U.S. Senate race three ways — to support Dill, to support Summers, and to attack King — will not achieve the outcome they desire.
True Downeast Dave, you are correct , some think the Rockland area is Downeast..
Washington Cty is the true Downeast!!