LETTER: This is why we vote
Doug Mastriano has been busy scrubbing his social media lately. Gone is a video of him calling for Pennsylvania to pull out of a program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He said it’s “nonsense” and “pop science” to connect burning fossil fuels with global warming. Always the plainspoken populist, he added, “Heck, the weatherman can’t get the weather right 24 hours out.”
Also removed from social media are assertions of Democratic voter fraud. He removed accusations that Republicans who don’t support him have disdain and hatred for veterans. This deleted conviction of his is at best bizarre and at worst insulting to veterans as he uses them as pawns. He also deleted his suggestion to remove medical privacy restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, his tweets promoting QAnon, and a video of himself calling local faith leaders “cowards.”
He believes that the life of a woman, rape, or incest are not exceptions to an all-out abortion ban. He advocates that doctors and nurses who provide this health care should be subject to criminal penalties. He introduced a “heartbeat bill,” banning abortions after about six weeks. Lately, he has pivoted to economic issues from his stance on abortion.
Why the deletions and pivots? Because as a candidate to be the governor of Pennsylvania, Mastriano knows that his extreme, out-of-touch ideology speaks to a small base and is not in line with the beliefs of most voters in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
In recent weeks, at least nine Pennsylvania Republican leaders have backed Josh Shapiro, the Democratic candidate for governor, citing Mastriano as “extreme and dangerous” and “doubling down on his threats to undermine our democracy.”
This important election will be held in November and a new governor will be elected. The candidate with the most votes will win and govern over the citizens of Pennsylvania. The most votes are comprised of every vote cast. Every vote counts, literally. This is why we vote.
Sharon Laffey
Claysville