I strongly disagree with Don Roberts’ opinion that Susan Collins should run for governor of Maine in 2018 (“Susan, it’s time to come home,” Sept. 23). We have plenty of candidates for that position, and with a few exceptions, any of them would likely be an improvement on the current occupant of Blaine House. In fact, I think some of them would make excellent governors.

But in her current position, Sen. Collins is sometimes all that stands between us and the destructive whims of the 71-year-old adolescent in chief now in the White House, aided and abetted by the mostly shortsighted members of his party in Congress.

Collins was one of the few Republicans who refused to go along with her party’s obsessive need to repeal Obamacare, because the proposed alternative would leave a great many Mainers (and other Americans) without access to affordable health care. Instead of getting caught up in the anti-Obama backlash, she actually considered the consequences for her constituents.

If she were to give up her Senate seat, no replacement would have her seniority, and therefore would not have the power to do nearly as much for Maine (and the rest of the country) as Collins has. These are dark and difficult times in Washington, where I’m sure she must be under terrible pressure, and I can’t blame her for wanting to come home and manage only Maine-sized problems. But we desperately need her right where she is. Somebody there needs to keep a level head, and Susan Collins seems to be one of the few who can.

Claire Prontnicki

Waterville

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