My work and family have taken me to all corners of Maine. I know gubernatorial candidate Libby Mitchell is the right person to lead our entire state through difficult times to a prosperous future.

Political debates often focus on whether we want change or experience. With Libby, we can have both.

I have known Libby for 30 years. She has represented constituents in the Legislature while grasping the big picture for all Maine people. She has taken squabbling parties to consensus. She has stood strongly for fiscal responsibility while caring for Maine’s most vulnerable citizens.

She is an advocate for businesses, employees and our environment — the three legs of Maine’s economic viability. I’ve known her as executive officer of the Maine State Housing Authority and as she obtained her law degree. She has shown us that education must be a lifelong pursuit for today’s work force.

Libby is also the mother of friends of our children. While others talk about invigorating Maine with the skills and entrepreneurship of young adults, Libby and her family are walking the walk. The Mitchell children have started families, built careers, created businesses, and generated jobs in Maine.

With Libby as governor, we can have both change and experience. Libby has experience in the tough art of governing and in the marketplace. As the first woman in the nation to be both House speaker and Senate president, Libby has changed the face and tone of politics in Maine.

As governor, Libby Mitchell will be an experienced leader and a change agent.

Martha Freeman
Portland

 

What are the great questions of 2010? Which candidate should we vote for? How do we know which candidate to choose? Is there a career politician who stands for truth, integrity, who doesn’t push the party’s agenda, but rather the people’s will? The people of the state of Maine voted down gay marriage. Paul LePage said he will honor the people’s voice, that is, the expressed will of the people.

To Paul, the election is about the people; it’s about the people’s will; it’s about the people’s interest; it’s about integrity.

Paul doesn’t resort to bashing. He doesn’t need to. Bashing is the politics of confusion, keeping the misinformed uninformed. Politicians do this so we will have no idea where they stand.

Paul takes a stand, and whether you like it or not, he lets you know where he stands. I’ve listened to him, and I’ve talked with him. He’s honest. He’s straightforward. He’s a leader, a businessman and a statesman.

Paul LePage doesn’t tell us where his opponent stands or doesn’t stand. He, in plain English, tells us where he stands. He doesn’t need to bash.

That’s integrity. He’s decisive, fiscally responsible, conservative, against higher taxes, for smaller government, stands on his own two feet, isn’t beholden to special interest groups, he won’t bend to the winds of either party, he’s a successful businessman, and he has a transparent record to prove it.

Vote for the people’s interests. Vote for Paul LePage.

Charles A. Reitze Sr.
Millinocket

 

I have been watching with an open mind the race for the Blaine House in our state. We have all seen early poll leaders and those less known continually shoot themselves in the foot with temper tantrums, or in the case of more than one, convenient loss of memory regarding their past behavior, whether it be a driving record or a document they may have signed their name to.

Maine cannot afford to elect any candidate who does not have the interests of the people of Maine foremost in mind. Let’s look beyond the lifetime politicians, the people with no memory of what they have done in the past, or the people who severed ties with our great state for personal gain.

Let’s look to the candidate who has the future of the state of Maine as a priority. That candidate is Shawn Moody. I have known Shawn for 25 years and have learned that he is a man of his word. I chose to leave my previous place of employment after many years and, after talking with Shawn, it was apparent what this man was about. I was pleased to join his team and work with a family of co-workers who have a common goal.

Shawn instills this goal, motivates people and makes it happen. I can only hope that as the days move closer to Election Day, people will step back and look at what this man has to offer.

Let’s all support his efforts. As you stand in that ballot booth, I remind you to consider the definition of insanity: “Doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results.” Make a change. Shawn Moody will make that change. Vote for Shawn Moody on Nov. 2. The party is over.

Joe Michaud
Westbrook

 

I urge all centrist Republicans and Democrats to vote for Eliot Cutler even if you fear that it could swing the election to one of the extreme candidates on the left or right.

From reviewing Cutler’s clearly articulated positions and problem-solving processes and viewing his performance in person and in debates, he is by far the best prepared candidate to help Maine solve its serious social, financial and economic problems.

A vote for Cutler is a vote for a problem-solver, not a no-issue conservative inciter or a well-known liberal spender of money Maine does not have and cannot generate without major systemic change.

No matter the outcome, a large vote for Cutler will empower the Legislature and citizens to better manage any other candidate who, at best, is likely to win only a very small plurality of the electorate.

Sure, there is a risk to both centrist Democrats and Republicans that an extreme liberal or extreme conservative might get elected, but they won’t be able to achieve an extreme agenda if the Legislature is empowered by a large centrist vote.

The potential for a Cutler victory is worth the risk.

Gore Flynn
Portland

 

It appears that Libby Mitchell’s platform is empty rhetoric about jobs and the same old bond issues that add more taxes and create temporary jobs.

Education? Seems that Maine isn’t one of the top performers for technological employment or industry since the climate to attract businesses isn’t conducive to companies coming to Maine for business. Why would anyone want to study the technology of the future, then stay and work here when opportunity is almost non-existent?

Lastly, it seems that Libby Mitchell’s approach to the governor’s office is to tell the voting public what is wrong with Paul LePage rather than dealing with issues to overcome the bureaucracy of rubber stamping social issues and telling the public how she would encourage businesses to come to Maine.

Anne Milton
Springvale

 

There are too many Mainers who have taken issue with the Portland Press Herald for publishing the character flaws, gaffes and other verbal blunders publicly uttered by Paul LePage and others running for public office in Maine. They have implied that character has nothing to do with leadership, when in fact it has everything to do with credible leadership among those who seek public office.

That’s true no matter which side of the aisle a politician is on. Many from both parties have stuck their foot in their mouths from time to time, and every time they do it, it is the job of a free press to report it. That is why I subscribe to The Portland Press Herald. It has done and continues to do what it is supposed to do, and it makes no distinction among political parties.

It is open season for a free press on any politician who desires to make the news — negative or positive — as in the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Personally, I love it! Well done!

David Bartholomew
Falmouth

 

I just love it when Maine has an event that makes the national media. More than one channel recently had our Republican candidate for governor boasting on how if elected, he would “tell Obama to go to hell.” How nice.

I’ll just bet he would tell our president where to go when we suffer a severe weather event (ice storm, flood, northeaster) and our residents need assistance.

And, I can just see his choice words if President Obama wanted to bring his family to vacation in Maine, bringing with him a much-needed economic boost in spending from the curious, the security and the press.

Boy, he will just love to spew some invective when looking for funds to upgrade our roads or schools. I can just see it.

How about this instead? If a politician desires to hold the highest office in the state, our great state, could he try and act like a statesman? Statesman is not an “elite” term, which you would probably deride. It has to do with respect, and earning that respect.

A person can’t do that if he chooses to behave like a thug.

Kathy Bordeleau
York

 

The criticism of Paul LePage for his hypothetical “go to hell” statement towards President Obama is entertaining. Where were all these defenders of civility and respect for the office of the president when George W. Bush was in the White House?

The daily spewing of gratuitous ridicule and insult became predictable, and oh, so fashionable in liberal circles, almost a reflexive reaction, as when someone says “bless you” to a friend who has sneezed.

But the sanctimony runs deep now that the liberal fellow is in the Oval Office. Even though Mr. Bush is safely in Texas, the venom continues against him and, of course, Sarah Palin, another target of opportunity.

Certainly Mr. LePage could have chosen his words better, knowing full well that his detractors would be pleased to pounce upon any perceived misstep rather than to discuss issues.

However, I must respect a man who speaks his mind, rather than fearfully weighing every utterance and ending up saying nothing of substance. The enthusiastic criticisms are naught but politics as usual.

Norman B. Blake
West Baldwin

 

I write in reference to Bill Nemitz’s column, “Poll shows who’s going to hell now,” on Oct. 1. Once again, Paul LePage is right about the insidious lengths to which the press may well go to disparage him. We have seen it for ourselves in the twisting of the coverage.

Paul LePage’s message is good — less federal and state government involvement in our lives.

He believes in the “government working for the people, not the people working for the government!” That sounds good to me.

Faith Pock
South Portland

As a long-time reader of your paper, I look forward each day to your opinion and commentary pages.

I enjoy Greg Kesich’s writing, but his column of Sept. 29, “Governor’s race turning into a war of attrition,” seemed a bit short-sighted to me.

Early in his column, Mr. Kesich dismissed candidates Shawn Moody and Kevin Scott for their lack of neckwear, which he said showed they weren’t serious candidates for governor.

While I can’t speak for Kevin Scott, I’ve know Shawn Moody for more than 30 years.

I admire his generosity, compassion for others, leadership and success. Honesty and integrity still mean something, and in this regard, Shawn Moody towers above the rest.

To think that one can gain some sort of respect or admiration by simply wrapping a tie around one’s neck seems a bit shallow. After all, Bernie Madoff and John Gotti were seldom seen in public without ties.

Paul T. Gore
Gorham