Don Roberts’ column “Will we elect our governor based on issues or candidates’ personality?” hits the political season “nail on the head.” It’s a wakeup call to Maine voters asleep at the polls.

When I was first asked to run for the Maine Senate in 1994 by the Franklin County senator who was vacating the post to run for governor, it was explained that running for the Legislature was “a popularity contest” and I had a good chance of being elected because I’d been a popular judge 15 years in the district. I ended up serving three terms.

Sadly, today’s voters care little about candidates’ records. Maine, as Roberts’ article notes, is a Democratic state. The answer as to why is plainly because Mainers are more liberal than literal when it comes to politics, and more loose in the dictionary definition of liberal than considerate of adherence to facts. Liberals’ left leaning has put Maine in the Democrat political column for many years.

Today’s political facts of life find Gov. Paul LePage running against two Democrats. Mike Michaud is one and the other, Eliot Cutler, was a longtime Democrat worker in Washington who is running independent only because he couldn’t best Michaud in a primary. Literal-thinking LePage is opposed by two liberal thinkers.

The outcome of the election should depend on direction of the candidates’ records, but it very well might not. The ship of state has been sailing left of center lately.

Let me fess up to the fact voters put me in the Senate six years simply because of personality. What’s wrong with that when based on a record of positive performance? Lawyers dubbed me “hard rock” and “hanging judge.”

The community loved it!

John Benoit

Manchester

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