Voting is one of the most precious and sacred rights and duties of a citizen if you are fortunate enough to live in a society like we have in the U.S. We are blessed to live in a Representative Democracy and the votes of the citizenry are, and have been in the past, vehicles of change and progress. Our Representative Democracy is based on a two party system. The major parties being Democrats and Republicans with some very real differences of opinion on how the world should work. Over the centuries, the parties have adapted and adjusted to changing times in various ways. The Republican Party today is not the party which produced Abraham Lincoln. But the one unchanging characteristic of both major parties for almost three centuries has been a deeply rooted sense, regardless of our party affilation, that we are all striving to make our country better.
I am a Democrat and have been for my entire adult life. Republicans think I, and those like me, are Socialists or Communists (They are not the same thing. Do some research!) with no drive or ambition, and driving the country to hell in a handbasket. I think Republicans are reactionary and elitists and want our country to become mired in some false dream of the good old days. (Trust me, I do know that this a gross oversimplification and the differences in our philosophies are much more nuanced and complex.) Nevertheless we are generally all on the same page about wanting our country to survive and thrive into the future, even if we disagree on exactly how to get there.
If you are a Republican, I absolutely support your right to vote based on the philosophical differences between us and hope you would extend me the same cour. I must say however, that voting for a criminal and a man who has proven time and again that he has no scruples and who lies regularly is not okay just because of partisanship. Where do you draw the line and put patriotism before partisanship?
Please remember that your vote is secret and you are not required to vote for every office on the ticket. So go ahead and vote for the Republican candidate for Senate and House of Representatives, I vehemently disagree and will argue why you are wrong but leave the top of the ticket blank. Vote for sanity, unity and normality. I am not asking you to vote for Vice President Harris if your conscience precludes it. I am asking you to vote for OUR country and OUR shared future by NOT voting for Donald Trump.
I have tried to make sure that no Republicans were harmed by the writing of this message. 😺
