Seems to me, Jim Fossel’s criticism of self-serving politicians on both sides spreading fear to get votes is just a thinly veiled attempt to minimize the threat to democracy posed by the Jan.  6 insurrection and the voting restrictions passed in red states after Trump’s defeat (“Beware of doomsday rhetoric,” Jan. 23).

For instance, he faults Democrats for trying to “ram through” the voting rights bills in the Senate for the sole purpose of winning elections. Maybe the Republicans hadn’t heard that the goal of elected officials should be to keep their jobs by passing legislation that fills the needs of the people and guarantees their legitimate freedoms, not by repressing voting, gerrymandering districts, and spreading lies about election fraud.

The Republicans may say that the newly passed voting restrictions in red states are to “preserve election security,” but the freer election policies stimulated by the COVID epidemic led to perhaps the freest and fairest elections in our history, despite Donald Trump’s frequent, absurd, and futile attempts to prove otherwise.

Fossel writes, “… it’s far easier to scare people than to actually sway them through logic and reason that your argument is correct.” What argument, if the opposition refuses to debate? Or when finally forced to, uses their time to voice petty gripes (“Our View: Susan Collins lets Maine down on voting rights,” Jan. 23). It might be easier to “sway with logic” if the Republicans let folks know how they would solve problems rather than just taking an obstructionist stand, keeping their heads down, and betting the farm that $1 million from Big Business will garner more votes than $1 each from 1 million voters.

The left admittedly has its faults but voicing legitimate concerns about the fragility of democracy is not one of them, and I have to I wonder how many Proud Boys and Oath Keepers are Democrats.

Melanie Lanctot

Readfield