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Sept. 1, 2024 Editor, The News-Gazette: I’m a veteran who lives in Rockbridge County. I served for 20 years in our military and I’m voting for Kamala Harris for president. I’m a political independent. I started out as a Republican after Ronald Reagan gave me a couple of pay raises as a young Marine infantryman when I made less than $300 a month. I think he gave us two big raises back to back. He helped me feel that my service was important and appreciated. So, I voted Republican for years without much thought. I became more “independent” in thinking and voting as I got older.
I like Kamala because she has a good combination of empathy and action. Helping and serving others seems important to her. I recently heard a woman talk about her time as Kamala’s high school friend. The friend told Ms. Harris that she was being sexually assaulted at home. Kamala displayed empathy to the friend, and then told her to move in with Kamala’s family so she could escape the frequent assault. I can’t imagine living in a household where I feared sexual assault, but having a friend who not only gave me someone to trust and believe in would be pretty powerful, especially for someone so young. And then she said “move in with my family.” I can’t imagine many people doing that at that age.
I’m sure I’ll disagree with many of her policies. Probably too liberal for me. But I think she’ll spend a lot of her time trying to be a good leader thinking about the plight of others and how to help. I’m OK with that. MIKE LENNON Rockbridge County
