Legislator can relate
to Rep. Willette
To the editor:
In response to a recent letter written by Robert Saucier, I would like to make several comments.
Mr. Saucier writes regarding the principled position taken by Rep. Mike Willette when he made the decision to change his political party from a Democrat to become a Republican. I made the same difficult decision almost 30 years ago after I came to understand that the Democrats had abandoned the working class and the views of Maine’s small business people.( I am an oil burner repairman )
As a liberal Democrat, Mr. Saucier obviously would prefer that a Democrat represent the citizens in District 5, even if the residents of Presque Isle, no longer share the views of today’s Democrat Party. Many political experts recognize that the Maine Democratic Party is one of the most liberal in the country.
Anyone who followed the Legislative record of Rep. Willette fully understood that he never supported the Democrat special interest agenda in Augusta. He frankly, was never accepted by them because he refused to support their Legislative ideas.
Rep. Willette voted against the Democrat Party line on nearly every major issue debated in Augusta over the last two years. Mr. Saucier, it appears, knows this fact, and still supported Mike’s re-election effort. Perhaps Mr. Saucier cares more about the Democratic Party, than assuring that the citizens of Presque Isle have a Legislator in the Statehouse who will represent their views.
Rep. Willette voted against the party line when they passed the 102 new sales taxes on our working people, He opposed the Democrats when they enacted a new tax on health insurance claims (the baby tax). He opposed the Democrats on the issue of allowing gay marriage. On each of these liberal, big government, special interest items, Rep. Willette represented his constituents, opposing the Maine Democratic Party and their “tax and spend” ways.
Frankly as a moderate/conservative legislator, he came to realize that he would never be accepted in Maine’s Democrat Party. I write to praise Mike Willette for his decision to join the Republican Party. Changing one’s political party is a difficult thing to do, but as I explained to my constituents almost 30 years ago, I didn’t leave the Democrats, they left me.
I left the Democratic Party once I came to understand that the government, and the welfare state have become more important to them, than the needs of our working people and small businesses. I commend Rep. Willette for his principled decision, and welcome him to the political party that represents the views of everyday Maine working people.
Charles Webster, chairman
Maine Republican Party
Farmington
