Fall is right around the corner, and temperatures should be dropping in the coming weeks. Those of us who have been suffering through the sweltering heat surely appreciate that. But another event will cause temperatures of a different sort to rise—the upcoming midterm elections.

Things will get uncomfortably hot as friendly disagreements will quickly turn into heated discussions and then finally into fiery, knock-down, drag-out fights. These dustups will occur everywhere—at the dinner table, in line at the grocery store, and most especially on social media.

These fights will also likely find their way onto these pages, in our Readers Write column. They inevitably do.

We truly value the comments from our readers on a wide array of issues. But we ask that those who write into our paper avoid ad hominem attacks and treat each other with kindness and respect.

As one of its guiding principles, Rotary International (a civic organization that does much good in Gloucester, Math...