My hope for this coming election is for a very large voter turnout. I don’t think we can afford another election where only 40 percent or 50 percent of the electorate decides who is to be elected. People need to use the power of the ballot to let their voices be heard.

I will be supporting Barack Obama for president. We need a clean sweep in Washington, D.C. We can’t afford another Bush-like president. McCain is no maverick – he supported Bush at least 90 percent of the time, and there’s no reason to believe that he will stray very far from the right-wing agenda. His choice for vice president shows me he is pandering to the right wing. There are dozens of other Republican women he could have chosen – but they would not have satisfied the right-wingers.

I’m supporting Tom Allen as well. I will not vote for a senator who has supported the Bush agenda at least 80 percent of the time. Susan Collins has done some good work for Maine, but I’m not willing to give her my vote given her support for Bush.

It’s time for change. It’s time to look forward. I have to believe that if a very large voter turnout happens on Nov. 4, the large majority of voters will vote for a clean break with the past.

Michael W. Grondin

Eddington