I would like to respond the letter written by Mr. Paul Overgaard on Sept 15. I was one of the people attending the town hall meeting on Friday evening. I believe that Mr. Overgaard is making a mountain out of a molehill in his letter. I will grant that there was one person who was a little rude during the meeting, but that was it. There were senior citizens there who were asking hard questions like the future of Social Security and other pertinent questions of this candidate. Don’t we, as voters of the 1st District, have a right to know where a candidate stands on the hard issues such as the future of Social Security?

I would like to ask Mr. Overgaard why he and others were taking pictures of anyone who asked a difficult question or disagreed with his candidate stance at this meeting. Was this some type of intimidation tactic done by the Republican Party to keep people from asking non-party-line questions of their candidate?

Mr. Overgaard writes about rude citizens attending this meeting, yet there was nothing mentioned in the Albert Lea Tribune article of any attendees being rude. Yet how soon Mr. Overgaard forgets how rude and insulting his party members were during the health care debate last year. Being a disabled person, I remember all too well the rude and snide remarks made to me during those debates.

Mr. Overgaard’s letter was nothing more than pure partisan politics. Throw some mud and see where it sticks. We as voters are smarter than that and will make up our own minds as to who to vote for on Election Day by the answers given to the hard questions by the candidates. We will not be told how to vote or be intimidated into voting for a candidate by Mr. Overgaard or the Freeborn County Republican machine.

Miles Pechacek

Albert Lea