Reject the politics of fear

To the editor:

I voted today. I voted a straight Democratic ticket, probably for the last time, out of solidarity with the women who are going to change the course of American History over the next several years.

I am not a 21st century Democrat. I am a Robert F. Kennedy Democrat. I believe the Democratic Party more or less stole the nomination from Bernie Sanders. I did not vote for Hillary Clinton.

I wrote in the name of Michelle Obama for President. I do not believe the Democratic Party represents my political views any more, and hardly represents my values either, except when I compare them to the Republican Party under Donald Trump.

I vote out of respect for my sisters, my nieces, and my mother's memory. And for every woman who has reached the point of a full, sincere, commitment to change in our country. I have a deep and abiding faith that the future belongs to young men and women who reject the politics of fear and intolerance, of insult, insensitivity and intimidation, of willful neglect, lies, distortion and greed, the politics of mockery, ridicule and dissembling, the politics of injustice.

The past two years have galvanized a movement that will overcome the current state of affairs I have described. And with the very hard road we face in solving our true problems in this country, we need to be united.

We must be able to change and grow in this 21st century or we will truly be left behind - left behind to wonder why we could not face the challenges of our time as generations of Americans have in the past. Please remember to vote and support the brave women and young people who are showing the way to a better future for our country and for the world.

- Jim Turner, Fairfield