I laughed when I recently received mail from the Maine Republican Party touting the low price of gasoline in March 2020. The suggestion, of course, was that Donald Trump orchestrated the savings as president through deft political leadership. But who can forget that energy prices cratered that month due to decreased global demand as people hunkered down at home at the start of the pandemic?

Later, watching television, I saw an ad criticizing Jared Golden for supporting stricter gun control legislation. It was presented as if he had arbitrarily reversed his position on the topic and not made a considered response to the worst mass shooting in our state’s history.

I suppose that the MAGA agenda makes a little more sense if you strip away important context and abandon critical thought, but I have confidence that the people of Maine are smarter than that. Please vote intelligently on Nov. 5.

Ryan Hross

Rome