‘Crazy uncle’ Trump must not be elected
While Donald Trump may be a major party candidate, he does not represent the values or behavior that are part of the mainstream of the American electorate. From his supporters, I hear that “I don’t need to like the guy” and that they approve of his policy on XYZ issue, often focusing on the border and immigration.
While I appreciate that those supporters do not like him personally, the next step of the logic still confuses me. If the border were your main issue, then you would understand that Donald Trump has been the one preventing solutions on that issue. Trump convinced the Republican Party to oppose bipartisan legislation that would have helped border security. So we have the mainstream of the American electorate that supported that legislation, and yet Donald Trump opposed it, leading to its failure in Congress.
In recent weeks, we have seen Trump continue to spread falsehoods about legal immigrants in Ohio, even when the local Republican leadership has proven the claims are not true. This is behavior more akin to the crazy uncle at Thanksgiving who is completely detached from reality, and is behavior that is not tolerated by the mainstream of the American electorate.
Andrew Stephenson
Time to bounce Martin from House
With intense focus on the presidential election, voters may not be thinking about the state races on the ballot. Yet state elected officials have a huge impact on our daily lives: They pass laws on education, taxes, healthcare, and firearms.
Looking at the voting record of my state Rep. Greg Martin. It’s time we fired him. When he voted to reduce the state franchise tax in April, I wondered why he didn’t advocate instead to eliminate our sales tax on groceries — which would have benefitted every resident.
In the wake of school shootings, he voted to increase protections for gun manufacturers and not for the protection of our children.
Rep. Martin has voted for numerous bills which deny women and girls control over their own bodies, especially preventing them from accessing contraception and abortion. He voted “no” on Amendment 6 to HB 1895, which stated that “the term ‘abortion,’ as defined for the offense of criminal abortion, does not include the use of contraceptives …” If he thinks that contraception is abortion, he will soon vote to further restrict products used by the majority of adult women.
Enough.
Let’s elect Allison Gorman to represent District 26. She will advocate for access to health care, public school funding, and common sense in Nashville.
Carla Askonas
Lizzy Scmidt is right for Walden
I’ve known the Willingham family for more than 40 years. This family is a pillar of the Walden community. Lizzy Schmidt, the granddaughter of Windy and Mary P. Willingham, is a woman of tremendous character and integrity.
During the last seven years, I’ve worked with Lizzy on our church’s missions committee, and she has consistently shown love and compassion toward the missionary candidates we support.
Lizzy is also a woman of great perseverance. As her shepherding elder at our church, I have seen how Lizzy has handled the malicious lies being spread about her. Despite the pain these lies have caused, Lizzy remains gracious and dignified.
Lizzy wants to remain Walden’s alderman in order to keep Walden the beautiful community it is. Regrettably, I am a resident of Signal Mountain, and I cannot vote for Lizzy. However, what I can do is wholeheartedly encourage my friends and residents of the Town of Walden to please vote for Lizzy, a dedicated and caring public servant.
David Kesler