Mathias was man of integrity, a trait now missing in GOP | READER COMMENTARY

Dan Rodricks reminded us of a time when our politics were filled with men and women of integrity, people like U.S. Sen. Charles McC. “Mac” Mathias Jr. (“Memories of Mathias, nostalgia for a principled Republican senator,” May 28).

Mathias embodied a bipartisan political culture in Maryland that prioritized problem-solving over party. In my many years in mental health advocacy, I worked with Republican state senators like John Bishop and Howard Denis whom we could count on year after year for leadership and support. Republican Senator Jack Cade pinched every penny in the state budget but fought hard to increase funding for community-based services for people with intellectual and psychiatric disabilities.

In the U.S. House of Representatives, Republicans Connie Morella and Wayne Gilchrest were always there for us. I remember when Congressman Gilchrest even lent his pickup truck to help a community mental health program move its Chestertown office.

I wonder if today’s GOP will ever see their likes again.

— Herb Cromwell, Catonsville

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