Anonymity arouses suspicion. On Oct. 17, I had a political message on my answering machine from an unlisted number from a party who did not have the courtesy to identify themselves.

The message was a classical negative attack; it contained no positive comments on the GOP national ticket, but contained greatly exaggerated claims about the Democratic ticket, such as: “Al Gore is going to take away your guns.” It also advised that I was being mailed an absentee ballot in case I was going to be away on a hunting trip on Election Day.

While I am a Democrat, I feel a growing concern for the continued viability of our national two-party system. It is amazing how the GOP continues to shoot itself in the foot with these Gingrich-era tactics. In a basically polite society such as Maine, such crudeness loses far more voters than it gains.

Gene Wilbur

Parkman