Pingree best choice to succeed Allen

March 7, 2008 Portland Press Herald Letter to the Editor, by Gordon Glover.

Speaking for myself, my eyes glaze over when Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama debate their respective health-care plans. I am at a loss to define either plan.

That's why I like Chellie Pingree's position on health care: a single-payer system that would cover everybody and is working in Canada and in most of the industrialized nations of Europe.

All we need is the political will to get it done.

Pingree, a Democrat, is a candidate for Congress from the First District in Maine. She wants to succeed Tom Allen, who is challenging Susan Collins in her run for re-election to the U.S. Senate.

Pingree's background includes eight years in the Maine Legislature, where she was Senate majority leader. She then served three years at the helm of Common Cause, the 300,000-member advocacy group that is fighting for campaign finance reform, among other causes.

Pingree states her positions in clear, direct language. Iraq? It's the biggest foreign-policy mistake in our history. Get out now.

The economy? It needs an immediate stimulus, but just as important is the need for "long-term investments in highways, bridges, railroads and education."

Global warming? A carbon tax to reduce emissions, plus the development of job-producing green technologies.

Pingree's messages resonate with me. Maybe they will with other readers, too.

Gordon Glover
South Freeport