Editor,

As President Abraham Lincoln stated in his Gettysburg Address, the government of the United States should be “of the people, by the people, for the people.”

In reality, however, it belongs to the people who participate in it. We, as voters, have the power to shape our government, to determine to whom and how the inalienable rights enshrined in our Constitution are granted and used.

When people make politics something so ugly that regular people turn away, they are looking to take that power away from us by discouraging regular people from voting. This leaves government in the hands of the extremists on both sides of the political divide.

Don’t let that happen. Your vote is your voice for our government and our rights — those rights defended by generations of veterans and supported by the many dedicated public servants working for the common good.

Please vote.

Marti Anamosa

Clinton