Dear Editor,
This in response to the “Democratic Victory” letter. I share the writer’s enthusiasm about Obama’s victory, not just for its historic meaning but also for the change that I hope it will bring to our nation. I want to remind Americans that this should be a time of unity. If our country continues to divide along partisan lines, we will not get anything accomplished.
I think that most intelligent, level-headed, rational-minded individuals are neither fully Democrat nor Republican. In truth, these people are Independent “leaners” – Independents with their own political convictions who lean to the left or the right depending on which side supports their personal views. These are people like FDR, a Democrat who voted for his Republican cousin Teddy Roosevelt in 1901 – not because of their family ties, but because, as FDR stated, “… he was a better Democrat than the Democratic candidate.”
I describe myself as an Independent – not because I am incapable of choosing a side, but because I don’t believe that when it comes to politics, there is such a thing as a “right” or “wrong.” There are only ideas and better ideas. There are ideas that stand alone and there are ideas with damn good legislation behind them. There are ideas that work in theory and ideas that work in reality.
We must acknowledge that there are other things besides financial status that determine others’ votes. Traditional beliefs, social status, religious convictions and political principles influence people’s votes, too.
We have heard Obama’s promise of labor, but labor that does not produce fruit will leave our country in starvation. Also, we cannot expect a drastic miracle within the next four years. The dilemma our country is in did not occur overnight and it will not be solved overnight, no matter what party is in power.
Let us keep in mind that an Obama presidency can have a bad side, too. For one, the calendar industry may need an economic bailout as it has capitalized off of “Bushisms” for the past eight years.
– Valisa Griffin

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