I am a widow, aged 74, living in Homer. I came to Alaska in 1960 to attend the University of Alaska Fairbanks, fell in love with my “Alaska grown” husband and with this incredible state, and I have been here ever since.
My husband and I were both raised in Republican families, and for many years I voted Republican in every election. About 25 years ago, I found my ideas diverging from the Republican mainstream, and gradually I became an Independent. Since then I have voted both sides of the ticket, but in recent years, the divergence has become so wide, that I have voted for only one Republican — you.
The purpose of this letter is to tell you that I can no longer continue. The actions of Republicans in Congress have become so reprehensible and the selection of Donald Trump as this year’s candidate is so odious, that I have decided never to vote for another Republican until the party rediscovers its dignity and acts with the intelligence it had in the past. Shame on all of you. You are turning me into a Democrat!
You have been a good senator, and I hope the day will come again when I can proudly cast my vote for you.
The following are a few of my grievances against the Republican Party.
1. In our struggle against ISIS, you have not done your duty, as mandated in the Constitution, to debate and declare war. Instead you have left the entire responsibility to President Obama and criticized him for every action he has taken.
2. By refusing to hold hearings on the president’s lawful nominee, you have hamstrung the U.S. Supreme Court.
3. For months you delayed the confirmation of Loretta Lynch as Attorney General, despite her obvious qualifications for the job. You treated her with disrespect.
4. You have refused to even consider any legislation regarding gun control, despite the wishes of an overwhelming majority of voters. Living in an area where bears frequent my backyard, I myself own firearms — yet I do not believe the Democrats wish to take them away from me. The Republican Party appears to be owned by the National Rifle Association, one of the most deeply entrenched perversities in America today.
5. Republicans in state legislatures throughout the country have tried to enact laws which would make it difficult to vote, strip away the hard-won gains of the LGBT community, and take away womens’ rights to control over their own bodies. I remember a time when women did not have these rights, and if you think you can take them away from us again, just try!
My grievances against Donald Trump are numberless, so I will list only two of the most egregious.
One, I could never support anyone who condones torture. It goes against everything America stands for and everything that has made us great. And if he is willing to torture prisoners of war, soon he will be torturing all prisoners.
Two, the following is an excerpt from a poem by Emma Lazarus, which is inscribed on the Statue of Liberty:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore
Send these — the homeless, temptest-tost to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
Apparently Mr. Trump is planning to put out the lamp and close the golden door.
In the past, whenever I have voted, I have always been confident that, even if my candidate lost the election, the country would be safe in the hands of whoever won. This time is different. God save America, if he wins.
Carolyn Wilder,
Homer
