This summer I read a story about two sisters during the Depression. The only piece of food left in the house was a mere potato. Their father told them to go outside and cook it on the firepit.

I love that generation because they were tough and they will not allow us to be weaklings. Our next leaders in Augusta can’t be weaklings either in failing to address our money woes. The state is in the hole billions of dollars, including money borrowed from the state pension system. This is not leadership. And we are going to pay a tremendous price. It’s time to get tough. I ask you, do you have the mental toughness or are we going to limp home and cry?

As the youngest boy in a family of nine, my mother would say I was a tough one. I am not running for state representative in Kennebunk’s District 141 this fall to boost my resume. As a small business owner used to heavy workloads, taking on more responsibility and expecting the unexpected, now is the time to jump in.

My fellow business owners are less than pleased with Augusta and they are not represented well. In order to get to the Statehouse in November I will need your help. Very soon I will call upon various people to accomplish this goal in the form of donations of time and money to promote my campaign.

Rarely do you get a retail business owner who runs for any type of political seat. Let us not dig the hole deeper.

Paul Bennett

Kennebunk