As eager career politicians seek to run for Sen. Olympia Snowe’s seat, they should consider that she chose not to seek re-election due to the polarization of her party and the dysfunctionality of Congress as a whole.

I wonder what Rep. Chellie Pingree (in my opinion, a contributor to the ineptness) could truly do to stop the current gridlock. Her statements, “I think people are seeing how important it is to push back against the right-wing agenda in Washington,” and “Republicans were advancing disastrous energy policies and taking away women’s reproductive rights,” are just other examples of how elected officials continue the war of words rather than work together to address the nation’s problems.

Voters need to get rid of politicians who are so narrow-minded that they believe their respective party is without question — always right on every issue — and vote lockstep with party leadership.

Members of both parties have gotten the nation into the current financial mess due to their inability to work together. Their allegiance to parties and their desire to dump on the other party at any opportunity is proof that voters need to elect an independent senator with fresh ideas and the ability to negotiate, while keeping the good of the nation above their political ambitions.

James Thompson, Lisbon

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