Last month, I finally turned 18, and even before my actual birthday, I registered to vote. This November is going to be huge for me because I've been looking forward to exercising my full democratic rights for a long time now.

However, this year's election will be a true testimony to the limitations of a two party system as deeply rooted as ours. For the past four years, we've had Gov. Martin O'Malley who, as a Democrat, I believe has let down the Democratic Party. And the four years before that, we had Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. who was much too conservative for my tastes. From the looks of it, the next four years will continue this O'Malley-Ehrlich aristocracy.

Therein lies the problem of our two party system; a third party candidate would have little to no chance against the elephant and donkey goliaths. Perhaps rather than a radical shift in favor of a third party, what Maryland really needs is a new candidate, a fresh face from either the Republicans or Democrats who will lead our state in the right direction and not hold on to the past eight years.

Ben Anderson, Timonium