If you visit fifth congressional district candidate George Logan's web page, you will find endorsements from practically every Republican politico in Connecticut, along with those from people whose connection to politics is more tangential.
It's impressive but predictable. Democrats are not going to endorse a Republican.
Aside from that, and aside from his brutal attack ads on his opponent (and hers on him), Logan seems like a decent person—well-spoken and earnest and confident he can get the job done.
In any normal political atmosphere, I would not arrive at the following conclusion, but these times are not normal:
You cannot vote for him.
Because he identifies as a Republican.
In his list of endorsements, I do not see Donald Trump's name, and if he has that endorsement and chooses not to use it, I congratulate him for that. But he is a Republican at a time when there is no viable Republican party. There is MAGA, and there is the void.
Mr. Logan may have good intentions, and he may think that Donald Trump is an idiot. He may even believe that the big lie is just that—a contrivance by Trump and his lackeys to subvert democracy. But none of that matters.
Eventually, if Mr. Logan wins, he will be voting on the impeachment of Joe Biden, the dissolution of the January 6 Committee, Lindsey Graham's hare-brained nationwide abortion plan, some control over the proliferation of firearms, and now, it appears, support for Ukraine. The chances that new House members will buck the MAGA establishment are nil, no matter how earnest and forthright they may be. Trumpism is the new second party: The GOP has been reduced to stragglers and bystanders, being swept along helplessly in the current. Geoge Logan is, regrettably, one of them.
Voting against candidates is nothing new; in fact, it has become an honorable strategy in the age of Trump, Herschel Walker, Dr. Oz, et al. I don't believe George Logan resides in that category, but the harm the MAGA party can do in the majority is incalculable, and we can't let that happen.
Jahana Hayes has served honorably in her position, and in an age where we measure accomplishments in millimeters, she has acquitted herself well enough. With an election in which a single House seat can drastically change the landscape of a nation, she must be allowed to retain that seat and defend the beliefs of the majority of Connecticut citizens.
Political ads lie and should never be a determining factor in a campaign—I'm not voting for Bob Stefanowski's fawning family. But the lies and half-truths that spew from Trump, McCarthy, Green, et al., must be taken for what they are: the Trumpian plan to reshape America.
Cult members often allow their beliefs to become their identity, and many Republicans have fallen into that trap. To deny the big lie is to deny themselves, which is difficult for anyone. Candidates like George Logan may be unwilling accomplices, but they are accomplices nonetheless. We cannot afford to elect another.
Comments