Summers, Pingree best for Maine

June 06, 2008 SeacoastOnline.com (Portsmouth Herald).

Primary election voting for the Maine 1st District congressional seat takes place Tuesday. For the first time in 12 years, this is an open contest.

Democratic Congressman Tom Allen is stepping down as he mounts his own campaign for the U.S. Senate. On the Democratic side, six candidates are seeking voters' approval to be their party's candidate in the general election in November. On the Republican side, one of two candidates will be his party's choice.

It is fair to say that, among Democrats, the seat was Allen's to defend as long as he wanted it. But now some of the party's best and brightest -- not to mention a few maverick newcomers -- have stepped into the fray. Maine Democrats have every reason to be proud that so many smart, talented people decided to put their lives on hold and their commitment on the line during this primary season.

However, we believe that one candidate stands out from the rest and deserves the vote of 1st District Democrats.

Chellie Pingree has proven over many years that she is a leader. She is unafraid to take on giants as large as the pharmaceutical industry and even Congress itself and is savvy and intelligent enough to win. She has the grit and determination necessary to be a strong, progressive voice for Maine.

Pingree first came to our attention in 2000, when she mounted what certainly seemed like an insurmountable campaign to take on U.S. pharmaceuticals. As Maine's Senate majority leader, she filed landmark prescription-drug legislation, called Maine Rx, the first in the nation to leverage lower prescription costs for the state's residents. After an intense, bipartisan effort, the law eventually passed and successfully withstood U.S. Supreme Court scrutiny after pharmaceutical companies challenged it.

Taking on prescription drug companies was a gutsy move, and so was her public dissent against the war in Iraq in 2002, when the country was still awash in post-9/11 fervor. Then mounting an unsuccessful bid for Republican Sen. Susan Collins' seat, she was and remains unwavering in her judgment that the war was a mistake.

Finally, we endorse Pingree because she'll be able to hit the ground running if she is elected to Congress next year. For four years, she was head of the consumer advocacy organization Common Cause, based in Washington, D.C. In this capacity, she has come to know everyone from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Barack Obama to many rank and file legislators.

Some of her opponents have seen this as a weakness, saying that she is too much of an insider, too much a politician. We see this as a great strength. The next Congress will deal with many far-reaching and vital issues -- the war, health care, the economy and energy legislation, to name the major few, and it will be important to have a seasoned voice in the Congress for the small state of Maine.

This is also one of the reasons we endorse as the Republican candidate former state Sen. Charlie Summers. Summers is a Republican in the mold of George H.W. Bush or Summers' former boss, Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe. While he is a fiscal conservative, he is a moderate on social issues. He is, for instance, pro choice on abortion.

As Snowe's state director, Summers became well acquainted with Maine issues and Washington politicians in equal measure. As New England regional administrator of the Small Business Administration, he again gained national experience and local exposure to the issues facing small business owners.

And as a Navy reservist who recently returned from Iraq, Summers has first-hand insight that will be valuable in the Congress to come.

Regardless of your party, regardless of your candidate, we urge every registered Republican and Democrat to cast his or her ballot on Tuesday. The times certainly require it.

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