I’ve been out in Maine communities talking to people about the election, and I notice something. People are hungry to have real conversations with other people, even if they have different ideas or different party affiliations. It has been such a rewarding experience to put the relationship first – the acts of respecting, listening to and relating to another person first – ahead of ideas or opinions. I have been heartened to know how many good people there are out there.

The other thing I’ve noticed is the stark difference between the two parties, in how they reach people or engage with their communities. There is virtually no ground game for the Maine Republican Party. I can’t find the county offices. I’ve never met a Republican canvasser. The party seems to be a gated community.

The Democrats have offices in most of the counties in the state. They have people out, there are phone banks, there are postcard writing campaigns. The Republicans seem to work from the top down in everything they do, including the Senate and House. There’s a kind of lockstep that works well for autocracies and the military, but it doesn’t do a good job of responding to the people and a diversity of views.

I don’t want a party that is lockstep, and I don’t want a government that is autocratic, and that serves only one party or which serves individuals. I want a government that represents everyone, and the common good, over individualistic profit.

Craig Donnan
Bowdoinham