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Aug. 5, 2024
Editor, The News-Gazette
Voting this November may be the most important vote of your lifetime. You have a choice between protecting our democracy or putting the basic tenets of our 250-year-old government at risk.
Living in a democracy means that we will not always agree with the decisions of the party in power. It also means that every four years, we have the opportunity to correct course. If our democratic institutions fall, we all lose this power.
During Trump’s last term as president, he re-shaped the Supreme Court, which has farreaching consequences. We have already seen the overturning of Roe v Wade, a weakening of our system of checks and balances, and, most worryingly, a ruling that the president has immunity from prosecution for acts – whether legal or illegal – performed in the role of president. The president is now the only person in the United States who sits above the rule of law.
If you have been turned off by the choice between two elderly men, your choice is now much easier. Contrast Biden’s decision to step down and open the race to a new generation of leaders with Trump’s desperate attempts to cling to power.
Will you vote for the party that believes in the rule of law, in decency, dignity, strength of character, and has a clear vision and plan for what our country can be? Or will you vote for the party that thrives on chaos, lies, denigrates our country, and campaigns for revenge and retribution?
To undecided Republican voters, I urge you to put principles over party. Vote a Democratic ticket and put your efforts into bringing your party back into a grown-up world of responsible governing.
Vote for democracy. Vote the Democrat ticket. JANET GIBSON Rockbridge County
