Submitted by Richard Wolfram, Old Greenwich
In response to the letters of Jeffrey Medina (LETTER: Associating Local Republicans with Trump Is Silly, Oct. 24) and Dan Quigley (Oct. 25), whose service to the Town I respect, I offer the perspective of a Greenwich resident who, unlike them, is not deeply involved in local politics. I do, however, follow the statements and positions of our State Representative and Senate candidates – on both sides.
And from my vantage point, contrary to the views of Messrs. Medina and Quigley, it seems to me neither “silly” nor a “distraction” for Democratic voices to highlight the similarity if not even identity of views of President Trump and at least two of the Republican candidates – Messrs. Arora and Fazio.
If one speaks positively about the possible benefits of hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19 (questionable at best, according to leading medical authorities) and supports the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris climate accord – well, gosh, now where might that have come from? If another denigrates the integrity of our voting processes; calls for the “evisceration” of the Affordable Care Act, with no offer of a substitute by Trump and fellow Republicans for nearly four years now at least to protect people with pre-existing conditions; and calls the Roe and Obergefell (marriage equality) decisions “offensive to the rule of law,” . . . who else have we heard this from, who just happened to nominate a judge to the Supreme Court for the express purpose of overruling these and other Supreme Court precedents?
These are just a few examples; there are a good deal more, there for the asking. No; the candidates have donned the Trump mantle, and proudly so. And efforts to obscure the extreme views of these candidates by denying their support for Trump are not consistent with the facts.
And let there be no mistake about one overriding issue: at the top of everyone’s ballot in this election sits democracy itself. And Donald Trump has put it there, up and down the ballot. He has sought to suppress the vote and questioned without substance the integrity of our voting. In these efforts he has received the unquestioning and often active support of the Republican Party around the country, including local Republican candidates. In recent judicial decisions, judges appointed by Trump have turned reason itself on its head in thwarting common-sense state measures to enable citizens to vote in these pandemic-constrained circumstances.
No local Republican candidate, to my knowledge, has called out Trump’s scurrilous, unfounded attacks on our democracy. The ‘big broad’ issues, which Messrs. Medina and Quigley seek to dismiss as ‘merely national’, inform our elected officials’ approach to every issue, no matter how local.
Reason? Common sense? Respect for democracy? Trump? – “Silly?” A “distraction?” I for one don’t see it that way, and I urge fellow Greenwich voters to reflect on these points before voting.
Editor’s Note: This letter was submitted in time for the Monday, Oct 26, 12:00noon deadline for submitting letters about the election and candidates on the Nov 3, 2020 ballot.