Randy Klein, candidate for state representative in the 141st state assembly district challenged his opponent to join him in denouncing Republican candidate Donald Trump’s campaign for President in advance of Trump’s rally in Fairfield on Saturday.
Randy Klein
Randy Klein, Democratic candidate for the 141st state House of Representatives District (contributed photo)
“Earlier this summer, I was proud to stand with my friends and neighbors here in Darien against Donald Trump’s dangerous, hateful and bigoted campaign. Now that he is right in our backyard it is time for all of us, including my opponent Terrie Wood, to do the same. Remarkably, Ms. Wood has remained silent while her party’s nominee for president’s reckless rhetoric has divided our country, denigrated our troops and endangered many of our citizens at home and abroad.”
In June Klein, along with other members of the Darien community, denounced Trump’s conduct as a candidate for the presidency.
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— This is an announcement from Randy Klein’s campaign.
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“I said it then and I will say it again: hatred and bigotry are not Darien or Rowayton values. Former Congressman Christopher Shays understands this, which is why he recently announced his intention to vote for Secretary Clinton in November. This is no longer an election about party affiliation, but about keeping a dangerous demagogue out of the most powerful office in our country, and the world.”
Terrie Wood / Terrie Wood
State Rep. Terrie Wood (R-141st District; contributed photo)
Former Congressman Shays recently joined this growing number of the nation’s former and current Republican leaders in announcing their intentions to vote for Secretary Clinton.
“Donald Trump has run a campaign that uses fear and hateful rhetoric to scare the American people into believing that they are in a state of perpetual danger,” Klein said Friday.
“Trump’s tactics are an unabashed attempt to divide the American people along racial, ethnic and cultural lines. I believe that we should use Trump’s divisive messaging as a call to action and unite in a concerted effort to guarantee that he is not our next president.”
“His attacks on women and veterans, calls to ban all Muslims, maligning of Mexican immigrants, and his most recent remarks that insinuated second-amendment gun enthusiasts could potentially commit an act of violence against Sec. Clinton, are emblematic of why he is unfit for the presidency,” Klein said.
“As I’ve knocked on countless doors in the district, I have spoken with many Republicans who simply cannot fathom a Trump presidency. This election is not about party affiliation, but about keeping a dangerous demagogue out of the most powerful office in our country.”
Klein is running against Rep. Terrie Wood, who has not yet publicly denounced Trump.
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An Editorial from Darienite.com
The dilemma for Republicans up for re-election is that if they denounce Trump, they may lose some votes from Trump supporters. If they don’t denounce Trump, they may lose some votes from Trump haters.
Terrie Wood is a popular incumbent who, very likely, can afford to lose some votes (Darien has plenty of Trump supporters, but supported Kasich more than any other candidate in the GOP primary).
By the way, Klein didn’t specifically ask that Wood say she doesn’t support Trump’s candidacy, just that she “denounce” him. She could denounce some things he’s said and still avoid saying she isn’t supporting him (others have done that).
But Klein could then come out with a second news release asking her to say whether she supports his candidacy, and draw this out further. This isn’t something unfair that Klein is doing and it’s in every Democratic candidate’s interest to do it.
The mess originated with Trump and his enormously controversial statements, and with those who helped get him his nomination: This is simply the inevitable bill that Republicans have to pay (whether it’s at the podium, the news conference or the dinner table) because the party let this man who has made these statements become the nominee of this party.
Wood could always demand that Klein denounce his party’s presidential nominee for felonious behavior in setting up a home-brew email server ripe for foreign powers to hack in order to get at information that would compromise national security. It’s just that kind of election year, with these kinds of candidates. And anyone running for even dog catcher, town constable or justice of the peace under a Democratic or Republican party label bears the responsibility to disassociate themselves from the actions of the unconvicted felon or the buffoon — for the good of the country that these two despicable presidential candidates have treated like an open sewer.
Obviously, local candidates for office aren’t responsible for who their parties nominate. But every one of them bears additional responsibility for helping to maintain ethical and civil standards of behavior of public officials, so that the bad examples and underlying attitudes of these candidates won’t spread like an epidemic. Time for vaccination.
(Denouncing the candidates is a separate decision from deciding whether or not to vote for one or the other of them — or even urging others to vote for either of them. You can denounce and even refuse to support a candidate and still decide that the best thing to do is to vote for that candidate.)
Editor’s note: A number of additions to this editorial were made in the minutes after it was first published.