To The Editor:

It was suggested that I explain why one should vote for Democrats and what specific policies might excite people. I will leave it up to the individual candidates to discuss their own policies. I will however present my thoughts on what Democrats stand for.

As a party we are not perfect and we have disputes amongst ourselves. We are a big-tent party with many divergent views but for the most part we do agree on the following:

Democrats still believe in democracy and the idea of three separate but equal branches of government. We still believe in the rule of law and that it should apply equally to everyone. We believe in human rights, civil rights and equal rights, in the freedom of the press, the right to peacefully protest and the separation of church and state. We believe that the purpose of the government should be to serve everyone, not just the rich and powerful.

We still believe in science, access to clean air and clean water and affordable health care and education. We believe that people should have more rights than guns.

Democrats still believe that we should support our allies and stand with them against our common enemies. We support the idea of a comprehensive immigration plan that doesn’t involve destroying national parks to construct unnecessary walls or killing innocent people with impunity.

For these reasons I will vote for Ned Lamont for Governor. I want someone in that office who will refuse to turn over our voter information to the federal government, who will continue to support a woman’s right to choose, and limits on automatic weapons, and who will not open his arms to welcome ICE agents. I will also vote to send Jahana Hayes back to DC to hopefully help turn congress back into an independent branch of the government.

I leave it to Republicans to define what they believe in, but from what I can see, it looks like they believe whatever their dear leader tells them to.

75 Days till November 3.

Kathy Quinn

Newtown