In the editorial, "Baldacci for Governor" (BDN, Oct. 21-22), it’s stated that Sen. Chandler Woodcock "showed himself to be on the far right…" I’ve spent some time with Woodcock and as a moderate, if not a liberal Republican, I do not share your assessment.

I was present when former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, chair of the moderate political action committee, It’s My Party Too, announced her endorsement of Woodcock for governor in Augusta on Oct. 14. Woodcock was one of fewer than 50 Maine Republican candidates to receive an endorsement from It’s My Party Too.

With regard to Gov. Baldacci’s record, I refer to you and your readers to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Web page: www.bls.gov/ro1/neempa.htm. There you will learn that the 2005 job growth in Maine was the worst in New England and New England failed to keep pace with the national growth rate. In spite of health care reforms, our hospitals are owed hundreds of millions of dollars by the state and million of health claims wait processing by a new state system that has not worked properly for almost two years.

The incompetence of Baldacci’s administration is underreported and ruining our state. We are not in a stronger position for growth. During four more years under a Baldacci administration, I would expect to see jobs fleeing Maine in record numbers.

Woodcock may be far too right for the Bangor Daily News, but he is just about right for me and certainly the best choice for governor of Maine.

David W. Lind

Bar Harbor