Let’s be clear: We do not have two moderate Republican Senators. We have one, Olympia Snowe. At nearly every turn Susan Collins as a Bush Republican has rubber-stamped all of the president’s tax plans – in 2001, 2003 and 2006. Maine’s Sen. Snowe objected that the Bush tax plans did not offer adequate relief for the middle class and voted against the plans in 2003 and 2006. That took courage and showed a moderate’s devotion to Maine unmatched by her Senate colleague Susan Collins.

I am a Democrat, to be sure, but with that voting record against the needs of Maine residents it is quite clear which Republican senator on principle needs to be replaced. Nostalgia voting for Collins, who originally promised to run only for two terms, seemingly runs deep among older Mainers, particularly women voters. I urge every voter to question their possible support for Susan Collins this time around. Tom Allen in the House has a record unmatched in support of the needs of Mainers and against the Iraq war. We need Democrat Tom Allen in the Senate this time around – one principled Democrat and one principled Republican is a far better formula for the deep, deep troubles America now faces after eight Bush years.

James Yerkes

Surry