LTE: Voters deserve light of day
Editor, Gettysburg Times,
A popular strategy among GOP candidates for this fall’s elections appears to be “hide and seek” or perhaps just “hide.” Mr. Mastriano refuses interviews with the press and bars them from attending his rallies. His website is resplendent with campaign slogans that say nothing unless you are a part of his in-crowd. They are just slogans or empty rhetoric designed to capture the emotions of those in his far-right political camp. Then there’s Tom Kean of N.J., who is more transparent than Mastriano yet hides pages on his website by removing a link. Nevertheless, he has sent the link of those hidden pages to his followers, thinking they will be energized by his fears over critical race theory and abortion.
But we need not go to N.J. to find candidates who prefer to hide rather than expose their policies to the voting public. Try to find information on Dan Moul. Dan’s competition is Adams County Commissioner Marty Qually. I recently visited Moul’s government office looking for campaign information, and I was directed by his staff to the local Republican Committee office on Buford Avenue in Gettysburg. When I asked for campaign information, the committee staff gave me a yard sign. I politely refused and asked for his policies, that is, why should we vote for him? I was informed that he had not submitted any information to the committee. All they had were his yard signs.
I write to call out all candidates, Democrat or Republican, who hide from the public, hoping that their ideas may not see the light of day. Perhaps this strategy will not pique the anger of his opponents and result in vote losses. Or perhaps, the strategy is one where if you remain hidden long enough, you can escape political harm and cruise to an electoral victory relying upon those who have always voted for the party. Whatever the reasons behind this cowardly strategy, it is fundamentally an insult to the voters of Adams County to be deprived of the positions a candidate plans to take on the critical issues of the day. Perhaps like Mastriano, he would ban all abortions. Perhaps he would even want to create an election crimes police force like Governor DeSantis. These are critically important matters that could very well be part of our future here in PA. The voters demand to know!
Tony McNevin,
Gettysburg