Sean Faircloth’s OpEd, “Obama understands challenges facing Maine,” (BDN, July 26) could not have been more off-base or out of touch with reality. Mr. Faircloth ought to take a good hard look at Barack Obama and reconsider supporting him for president.

An Obama administration is full of questions. To start with, how will someone with so little experience nationally and internationally lead our country? Furthermore, Obama has changed his mind or back-tracked on so many issues that we cannot have any assurance he will do what he says.

What we do know is that taxes will increase if Obama is elected and there will be no meaningful relief in the short or long term to our energy crisis. Obama voted for tax increases nearly 100 times during his short time in the U.S. Senate.

And contrary to what Mr. Faircloth would have us believe, Obama offers no real solutions to our energy crisis. In fact, he has proposed a windfall profits tax on oil companies. The last time that was tried was in the 1970s under Jimmy Carter, and many of us remember what happened – gas shortages and higher prices at the pump.

John McCain is a proven leader with reality-based solutions to our real problems. We know he will lead our country well and with honor – at home and abroad – and we know he is a man of his word.

Leilani Stites

Dover-Foxcroft