Gregg Kauffman: There should be just as much concern for out-of-state attacks as for a voters guide

To The Daily Sun,

What is ironic is that Charles Bradley shows concern for a local group of Belknap residents putting up a voters guide that lists candidates best suited to office but says nothing when out-of-state PACs attack candidates. It is the inconsistency in his concern for political integrity that undermines democracy, to which he professes care.

Creating a voters' guide featuring candidates whom local residents feel best suit an office is a fundamental exercise of democracy. The theory goes that now voters can make decisions based on qualifications and policy. However, when out-of-state political action committees attack them with misleading information or even propaganda, the democratic process is corrupted — voters are manipulated and tricked into believing false narratives.

Charles Bradley should be no less troubled by attacks from an out-of-state PAC on candidates than he is by a local voters guide. The outside influences may well make the difference in the election and diminish or eliminate the will of the local residents. Bradley is taking no notice of these attacks since he doesn't wish to lose and is allowing outside forces to cause this outcome rather than allowing the residents in Belknap to make an informed decision on their own based on the merits of each candidate.

Bradley should realize that the integrity of our democratic process is to be preserved and make a statement against such manipulation and deception of the electorate. This he can do by standing up for the residents against out-of-state PACs for transparency and truth in political campaigns.

In other words, it is the height of hypocrisy for Charles Bradley to address concerns about a local group of Belknap residents putting up a voters guide when he has remained silent in the face of attacks by out-of-state PACs.

Gregg Kauffman

Laconia