The independent nature of Maine residents has been well documented.  Pundits from all political persuasions have lamented the fact that it is so difficult to predict the way Maine people will vote.  Maine residents are very proud to be called an enigma; in fact, Mainers work very hard to perpetuate that image.  Unfortunately, in recent years that fierce individuality, so long Maine’s strength, has been exploited by the Democratic Party until it has become the ironic bane of Maine’s slow painful demise.

Mainers vote their conscience.  Mainers resent being confined to a party.  In the past, this was a badge of honor proudly displayed in the face of any political pollster.

I, too, was raised to believe that you voted the issues, not necessarily your party.  My friends, sadly, that has changed.  I realized this four years ago after my last vote for Mike Michaud.  I voted for him because I thought he was the most conservative candidate.  While he campaigned as a Conservative Democrat, I think we can all now agree that he has no Conservative spine.  I’m ashamed to say that, unwittingly; my vote for Mike Michaud was a vote for Nancy Pelosi.

So there in lies the problem.  We must come to the realization that there is no such thing as a Conservative Democrat.  A vote for a Democrat at any level is a vote for a liberal agenda that is destroying our State and destroying our Nation.

For years the Democrats have used our children as the bargaining chip to pass many of their unfunded mandates.  The result has been a mass exodus of our youth, who have realized that, the bill for the mountain of  “for the children” legislation will fall to them.  They are leaving for Conservative states that offer a crazy combination called higher wages and lower costs of living to forge a new life for themselves.  As the youth of our state leave, they are being replaced by entitlement seekers who are addicted to the “Turkish delight” freebies the Democrats offer.  Your vote for a Democrat is vote for the long coordinated attack on the independent strength of our state.

It should be increasingly clear to all of us that a vote for a Democrat is a vote for their leadership.  Those who control what the party does.  A vote for a Democrat is a vote for those who have a repulsive unmitigated gall to equate tea party goers with the demented Timothy McVeigh.

To my Conservative Democrat friends, when I criticize the Democratic Party I am criticizing the Democratic leadership not it’s voting constituents.  I challenge my Democratic friends to evaluate their vote.  Are you sure you want to have your vote support a party that has piled a mountain of debt on the backs of your children?

The day has come when these stark questions must be addressed.  Are you willing to vote for a party, which has become filthy rich off the many environmental regulations it has imposed on this state?  Your vote for a Democrat is a vote for a party that envisions the North central part of the state of Maine as a complete wilderness devoid a human footprint.  They support the United Nation’s plan to annex all private property into public lands.  Do you really want to support that left wing agenda?

The sad reality is a vote for a Democrat is a vote for socialism.  There are no Democrats in the Party that have the strength to right the ship as it careens off to the left.  This is not the Democratic Party that your grandfather voted for.

As this voting cycle begins to heat up, remember whom you are actually voting for when you vote.  The Republican Party is far from perfect.  There are two Senators from this state I have to hold my nose to vote for, but I have learned my lesson.  A vote for a Democrat is a vote for party that has lost all moral grounding.  I will never again empower them with my vote.  A vote for Republican, no matter how flawed, is a vote for a party that still holds to Conservative principals.  This State, this Nation, needs to return to Conservatism.  Let’s keep the big picture in mind when we vote.