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I believe the article in Thursday’s paper about the poll that finds Joe Baldacci ahead of the other Democratic contenders in the 2nd Congressional District race by 20 points is misleading and should be taken with a grain of salt. Only 169 people were polled with 30% of the voters undecided.
To base any prediction on this small sampling would be foolhardy and, as we have seen in past elections, poll numbers do not always accurately reflect how people will ultimately vote.
The article also says that the primary race began relatively late after current U.S. Rep. Jared Golden dropped out. Not entirely so. Matt Dunlap announced his decision to run for the position before Golden announced his to drop out. Matt was willing to take on an incumbent of his own party because he said he felt he had an obligation to better represent the values and policies of the Democratic Party. I believe he has always been a dedicated public servant who is willing to go the extra mile for his fellow Mainers.
And, finally, from this article, we learn that the Baldacci campaign will get advertising money from an out-of-state PAC.
Let’s not let headlines touting likely meaningless poll numbers and the unfair advantage of outside money influence our votes or decide our elections for us.
Cindy Todd
Etna
Correction: This letter previously incorrectly suggested that other candidates did not take outside money. Matt Dunlap has received support from groups outside of Maine. There are no “clean election candidates” for federal offices. That is a state program.