This is in response to Daniel Salerno’s letter to the editor of May 20 in which he criticized State Sen. Peter Mills for not standing against the Maine Republican platform, a platform that has been criticized as being too conservative to accurately represent the party as a whole.

While Mills stands out as a centrist gubernatorial candidate, the very stance that makes him unique among his peers has now made him somewhat of a target. But Mills has remained steadfast to the values that are the foundation of the Republican Party, including the basic tenets of fiscal responsibility and accountability, fostering a culture supportive of business to facilitate job growth, and maximizing efficient utilization of government resources.

In the modern era of hard-line polarized politics, it takes courage to declare oneself a moderate. This is especially true for a candidate during a primary campaign, where the goal is to be able to appeal to a broad range of voters within one’s own party, who at first blush, might not sympathize entirely with the candidate’s particular brand of ideology.

Dr. Joel Kase, Lewiston