History is repeated, repeatedly. Heavily banked, party-backed candidates push to the front of the lines of those competing for the highest electoral offices, to fight out an either-or rivalry thick with lies, promises and vindictive and distortive accusations. Nevertheless, developments in our political system and in our regional and national challenges are still changing dramatically.

One new key factor of the coming U.S. Senate race in Maine is ranked-choice voting. This will allow us to vote for whatever candidate, of any party affiliation or none, whom we believe best suited to serve our nation at a time of multiple crises and severe internal divisiveness, while we also identify a second and even third choice, to whom our votes will default if our first choice doesn’t come out on top.

This system for electing key public servants prevents any candidate from becoming a spoiler. However, media throughout Maine continue to focus almost entirely on candidates of the two dominant parties with huge financial support from unknown lobbies, corporations and wealthy patrons, as though only those chosen by their party machines and loyal party voters are deserving of attention.

I hope regional press and television will support real democracy by improving informative coverage of each candidate’s campaign. It can wake people up and inspire vital attention. It’s done so for me.

Steve Benson
Surry

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