We hear a lot of claims in politics. Declaring I’m not a witch or a Nazi (I just dress like one for fun) are like the beginning of a bad joke. Watching national “tea party” candidates is like watching a train wreck. You want to but can’t look away.

The tea party could have been an effective nonpartisan message to John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi to do the business of the people.

How did a great concept go so wrong?

Intelligent, hardworking, courageous people should have been coming out of the woodwork with their best ideas. Instead, we got candidates whose past and present behavior and opinions leave us waiting for the punch line.

Change is an active, not a passive, process.

The power of the people should always trump Wall Street, the banks and special interests. Democrats and Republicans alike fail to show the courage to take back the nation.

While I am proud of Maine’s four representatives, they fail to scream loud enough and stand strong enough for true reform.

I have my own opinions about health care reform, deficit spending, etc. But, compromise lies in the middle, not out in left (or right) field.

Those representing us who would shut down the process of governing, just to see the other party fail to increase their standing in an election, are not acting in the best interest of America.

The tea party is a reflection of America at its worst; and the joke is on us all.

David D. T. Marquis, Lewiston