Letter: Voter Participation Crucial to Future of Country

To the Editor-
I would like to comment on an article written by Gene Mencel of Rosholt titled “Longtime Voter Sitting Out Presidential Election” in the July 9 edition of the Stevens Point City Times.
I, like Mr. Mencel have voted in every presidential election since I was old enough to vote in 1956 and also have voted for both Democrat and Republican candidates. However I will vote again this year. There is an old saying, “all it takes for evil to exist, is for good men to do nothing”, not voting is doing nothing.
As this year’s election campaign got under way there were about 20 candidates for president. If my memory serves me correct, there were 17 Republicans and 3 Democrats. My number one choice would have been Governor Scott Walker with Dr. Ben Carson a close second. Seventeenth on my list was Donald Trump with Hilary Clinton number 18th.
Although this is like selecting from the bottom of the barrel there is a big difference between Trump and Clinton. I believe issues like homeland security, the economy and immigration are very important, but I believe the most important issue is whom the new president will nominate to fill vacancies on the [U.S.] Supreme Court.
We have to live with decisions by the court for thirty and forty years. Hillary Clinton would make the court more liberal and Donald Trump has promised a more conservative court.
Some of the disastrous decisions by liberal courts in the past are “Roe v. Wade”, “Dred Scott”, the striking down of the “Sodomy Laws”, and although “Affirmative Action” was a good law, the court created new law by the way it was implemented.
We are now living with those disastrous decisions. I want to be counted among the good men so I’ll be voting for Donald Trump for President.
Ray Raflik
Stevens Point