Politicians need to care more about the country and less about themselves

Earlier this week, Lance Duston wrote on his BDN blog about the need for better-qualified public officials. He argued that voters need to get rid of their fixation on candidates’ regular-guy appeal and instead support those who have government experience and relevant education. I agree with Lance on his first point, but I think he misses the […]

The Republican healthcare plan would cause more American deaths than terrorism

Of all the threats to American lives, few frighten the country more than terrorism. Thousands of Americans and tens of thousands of people elsewhere in the world have lost their lives to terrorism over the past two decades. ISIS has killed upwards of 50,000 people over the course of their existence, one or two hundred of […]

Paul LePage needs a lesson in humanity, not just history

“John Lewis ought to look at history. It was Abraham Lincoln who freed the slaves. It was Rutherford B. Hayes and Ulysses S. Grant who fought the Jim Crow laws. A simple thank you would suffice.” – Governor Paul LePage on WVOM Tuesday, January 17 “The blacks, the NAACP (paint) all white people with one […]

Trump won’t bring the paper industry back to Maine

The BDN Editorial Board sort of beat me to the punch here, but their article makes a similar point in a different way, so I’m still posting my take. Donald Trump won the election on a false hope. He said and promised many things that brought him the support that delivered him the presidency, but […]

Ranked Choice Voting Could Start Renewal of Democracy According to Scholar

Larry Diamond is a renowned democracy scholar based at Stanford (and affiliated with my organization, the National Endowment for Democracy, I can happily say). He has made a career out of analyzing democracy in theory and practice all over the world—its grand historical arcs and concepts, as well as its finer details. So our state should […]

Judging by History, a European Ban on Maine Lobster Might Really Happen

Earlier this year, Sweden complained about finding American lobsters in nearby waters and called for a ban on imports of the crustacean. Last week, the EU took a major step forward in the process for pursuing such a ban when a scientific review body said that Sweden’s complaint has merit. That means that a further review will now be […]

ISIS Online Recruitment Has Wide Reach and Will Be Tough to Beat

It was recently revealed that a man living in Freeport traveled to the Middle East to fight for ISIS in 2013 and died in Lebanon in 2015. Reports indicate that he was radicalized online. The exact nature of how that radicalization transpired has not been detailed in the press, but based on other cases, it is possible to make an […]

How to Fix Trade

One of the key issues underlying the political currents driving the election this year is free trade. The candidates frequently discuss the topic itself, but trade is also an indirect cause or contributor to the broader sentiments defining each political side. On the right you have supporters of Donald Trump looking warily at the rest of the […]