Political ads
All of you, Democratic and Republican candidates, disgust me. Your political ads on TV should be banned. You waste “our” money to spew trash on your opponents. None of you are worthy of our votes.
Don Thompson, Hampton
Winsome Earle-Sears
Virginia needs to elect Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears as our next governor. With her experience, she will continue the good work of Gov. Glenn Youngkin and expand on it. Also, she is the first black woman to ever be elected statewide.
Earle-Sears is strongly in favor of keeping the right-to-work law. Her opponent is against. Former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger favors unions, which means forced union dues, and could result in fewer companies coming into the state.
Spanberger has vowed to pull back on cooperation with federal deportation agents. Earle-Sears will continue Youngkin’s level of cooperation.
Spanberger continues to be vague in her answers about education. Earle-Sears will support banning biological males from women’s and girls’ bathrooms and girls’ sports. What about Spanberger?
The Democratic Party is pouring huge amounts of money into this election and now they have voted to shut down the federal government. The shutdown is hurting all of us, especially in a military town.
Mary DePrisco, Norfolk
Vote blue
President Donald Trump has consolidated power in mere months. He controls all three branches of the government. That is because Republican members of Congress allow it. We need politicians at all levels who will stop the abuse of power and the evisceration of our institutions such as the military, which we rely on for national security.
This government is focused on punishing old enemies instead of protecting and serving the people. Due process has gone out the window. America is still asleep or watching TikTok while people are swept off the streets, universities and free thought are commandeered, and everything that protects us has been stripped away. Incompetence rules. The U.S. Supreme Court is corrupt and allows Trump to break the law, which means lower courts making rational decisions are meaningless.
Now is the time to fight back against MAGA and that means vote Democratic in every election whether you are a Democrat or not. Help get us out of this authoritarian mess by voting for former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi and former Del. Jay Jones. Preferred pronouns, teaching about slavery and supporting women’s health cause no harm to you and are completely innocuous compared to dictatorship in America. Same with inappropriate and violent texts. Jones’ texts were horrific, but we get similar from the president every day, so obviously it’s not disqualifying.
Beth Scott, Newport News
Misleading
Re “Rights” (Your Views, Oct. 2): The letter took Sen. Tim Kaine’s response to Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statement that our rights come from our Creator not from our government out of context. The letter writer’s take was misleading. I invite him to listen to the Sept. 5 Senate Foreign Relations Committee for the complete audio/text.
Kaine believes in God; he served as a missionary and is a devoted Christian. While these rights originate from our Creator, their protection is a human responsibility. They are supported and carried out by institutions and laws such as the U.S. Constitution, judicial system, elected government officials, and we the people who are vigilant citizens voting and holding our institutions accountable. Kaine also believes this. He began as a civil rights attorney, followed by more than 30 years in public service. He has served Virginians with integrity, grit and dedication.
As we know all officials take an oath in part that requires them to solemnly swear to uphold the U.S. Constitution against all enemies. We are a nation of laws — equal justice, equal protection under the law. We are not a theocracy. We are a democracy, if we can keep it.
Patty Bates, Virginia Beach