Letters

The Southampton Democrats’ campaign slogan is: “Democrats Deliver.” These are not empty words. With a majority in our local government, Democrats have delivered on policies that are improving people’s lives.

Republicans looking to unseat them on November 2 cannot challenge these successes, so they are taking a novel campaign approach: They are imitating them. Their website, party platform and campaign materials focus heavily on core Democratic values, such as protecting the environment and protecting residents from COVID. There is no mention of Donald Trump.

Do not be fooled. Southampton Republicans are playing a game of hide-and-seek on their website and in the campaign, hiding what their party really stands for while they seek your vote.

Because if you dig deep into their Facebook page, you will find all the red meat for their base — such as comments by and photos of Donald Trump, and shared postings from Trump’s biggest supporter, Congressman Lee Zeldin.

The most illuminating entries are from January 6 and immediately after. Rather than any criticism of the insurrectionists and their brutal assault on the police officers defending the Capitol, there is only a statement by Zeldin defending his speech on January 6 that supported delaying certifying the presidential election, which he gave after the attack on the Capitol.

Additional postings by Zeldin, shared by the Southampton GOP, spread misinformation about masks, vaccine mandates and the new GOP bogeyman, critical race theory.

Claiming to support protecting the environment while denying climate change and voting repeatedly to gut environmental agencies and regulations is a joke. And purporting to care about the spread of COVID when Republican anti-mask and anti-vaccine policies are literally killing people around the country would be equally laughable if it were not so tragic.

The Southampton GOP do not get a pass because they are local. Every Southampton GOP candidate needs to be pressed for answers on these defining Republican Party issues.

Here are some sample questions: “Do you believe government has a role in combating climate change? Was the 2020 election stolen from Trump? Do you support the anti-diversity education views of the Trump/Zeldin supporters who are disrupting school board meetings on Long Island? Do you agree with these supporters that mask and vaccine mandates are an affront to personal freedom?”

Because if they agree with the GOP party line then they are a danger to our community and should be disqualified from holding office. And if they do not agree then the Trump/Zeldin voters in Southampton have a right to know that their candidates do not support policies that have become the foundation of this Republican Party.

Barbara Weber-Floyd

Westhampton Beach