Letters to the Editor: O.C. Republican’s red-baiting is sadly on brand for her party
To the editor: Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Seal Beach) is running her campaign against Democrat Jay Chen for the 45th Congressional District using lies and misinformation, just like her hard-core Republican base. (“In tight California House race, ‘red-baiting’ mailers accuse candidate of communist ties,” Sept. 30)
I was astounded to listen to one of her ads that claimed her parents moved here from North Korea to get away from socialism. I’m pretty sure her parents left North Korea to get away from an awful dictator.
Now she’s photoshopping Chen as a communist, another lie. In fact, Michelle Steel opposes a woman’s freedom to choose and aligns herself with a party that wants to turn our democracy into something that resembles a dictatorship.
So when it comes to supporting authoritarianism, I believe she needs to take a good look in the mirror.
Mary Carlson, Mission Viejo
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To the editor: Here’s an idea — how about candidates campaigning for public office use their fliers, ads and speeches to tell us what they stand for, what they will do if elected and why they are running for office?
It angers me to hear that Rep. Steel has resorted to the old tactic of doctoring pictures and manipulating facts to smear her opponent in her campaign flier. Actions like this only contribute to the mess our country is in as a result of our leaders spreading lies, hurling insults and muddying the truth so that voters are left confused, deceived or duped into voting against their own best interests.
We want and need to hear the truth from each candidate. It is an insult to voters to try to trick us with misleading campaign materials.
Joanna Ryder, Hermosa Beach
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To the editor: Unfortunately, there is no law that prevents political campaigns from using unethical tactics, such as falsely accusing your opponent of being a communist sympathizer, otherwise known as red-baiting. Such tactics hurt democracy by distracting and confusing voters.
Campaigns will stop using such “dirty tricks” only when they get punished at the polls for doing so.
Fred Smoller, Orange
The writer is an associate professor of political science at Chapman University.
