I hate to keep picking on Jim Fossel, but he offers a challenge I can’t refuse (“Weird isn’t a pejorative term,” Aug. 11). I do agree that “weird” is a strange term to characterize Trump, Vance and their policies, but “a threat to American democracy” is spot on.

There’s the plan to round up all undocumented immigrants, herd them into detention camps and ship them back to countries they risked everything to leave. Sounds undemocratic to me (not to mention super expensive and counterproductive). Then Trump states that if he wins in November there’ll be no need for further voting (a statement not even Putin would say out loud) and refuses to say he will accept fair election results if he doesn’t win.

Then Fossel says that “it doesn’t seem as if [Tim Walz has] done anything particularly notable.” Well, as governor of Minnesota, he has supported legislation providing: a generous child tax credit, up to 12 weeks of paid family leave, the development of affordable homes, the creation of good jobs, and the lowering of taxes for low- and middle-income families — all with only a modest increase in taxes for the rich.

Next Fossel says that “if Democrats want to win this election, they have to defend their record, and they have no way to do that …” Really? Thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration, America has come out of the COVID pandemic with the world’s strongest economy, health care and veterans’ services have been expanded, and violent crime reduced. Other legislations passed: a gun safety law, an infrastructure bill, and the Inflation Reduction Act, which lowers prescription drug prices, promotes domestic renewable energy, and revitalizes American manufacturing.

Fossel further states, “Biden’s judgment is always in doubt.” His one example is Biden’s choice of Kamala Harris as vice president.

However, it appears that the Harris-Walz ticket might just have the positive energy, fervor and the public support to pull off a win. Maybe she’s not such a weird choice after all.

Melanie Lanctot

Readfield