I am responding about letter writer Andrea Rouda (“Why conservatives prefer to remain silent,” Oct. 3), who was subjected to hateful vitriol in the online comments for her letter in support of Paul LePage.

I am from the other side of the aisle, but I am very sorry that Rouda had to experience that. And I hope that she doesn’t let that stop her from continuing to express her point of view through letters to the editor. We so badly need to have intelligent, respectful dialogue in areas where we may disagree. Exchanging points of view with only like-minded people in our isolated silos does nothing to bridge our partisan divide.

To that end, I would like to suggest a new opinion column for the Press Herald. How about facilitating this exchange of ideas by starting a weekly conversation about issues of common interest that we seem to disagree on? The newspaper could select a topic and invite readers to send in their points of view, publishing one or two from each side. You might call it “Both Sides Now,” and it could potentially help us to change the dynamic of our disagreements, maybe let us better understand one another, and perhaps begin to rediscover our common ground.

Doug Zlatin
Falmouth