Go vote for the future of America

Two years ago, after the 2024 election results handed Trump and the Republicans the trifecta — the presidency, the legislature and the Supreme Court — I texted my son that this would give our country an opportunity to judge them and the conservative media as they freely govern and communicate.

Before next week’s elections, every American needs to evaluate the effectiveness of the tariff wars, the war with Iran, siding with Putin as we abandon Ukraine and our NATO allies, condemning many immigrants to unjust treatment and deportation rather than focusing on the promised removal of felons and those here illegally, the escalating debt and deficit while lowering taxes and placating Trump’s grandiose construction projects. Not only is he not a talented negotiator, but he’s also a bully who thrives on authoritarian power.

For two years, a very different America has evolved. Many Americans’ ability to meet their needs is diminishing. Our standing throughout the world is diminished and negatively affecting so many people. Now is the time to courageously say, enough! Please vote wisely.

— Mark Zaitz, Highlands Ranch

Cynicism — as in “a plague on both your houses” — is an easy out. Too easy.

No candidate is perfect. Neither is any voter, but we have been given responsibilities as well as rights.

Our biggest responsibility is to choose the individuals who, as a body, will govern us. In that task, there are distinctions to be made; there are differences among candidates. It’s our job to give serious thought to those differences, differences in policy and in character.

We are likely to see drawbacks to every candidate, but we are also likely to find distinctions. Find those distinctions, base your decisions on them … and VOTE.

— Patricia Dean, Denver

This election is complex. Not either/or. Not binary. Not simple. Not black and white. Democracy is messy. Dig in. Do your work. Figure it out. Take time to examine all aspects of all the issues. Get informed. Vote.

—David L. Stevenson, Denver

My friend is a Christian Republican. Not a Christian Nationalist. There is a difference, and he is living it.

He is angry. Angry about President Trump scaring Los Angeles and San Diego with Iranian attacks for political effect. Angry about a president who still will not admit he lost the election in 2020. Angry about the corruption, the gas prices, the grocery bills, the embrace of Vladimir Putin, and the abandonment of the fiscal responsibility his party once stood for. Imagine how he would feel if the execution of the 2009 Fort Hood attacker was broadcast on live TV.

He did not leave his party. His party left him. Now, his Democratic friends assume he’s MAGA. His MAGA friends call him a liberal. He is losing respect on both sides for the radical act of paying attention. He is not alone. Across this country, there are voters like him — decent, faithful, fiscally conservative — waiting to see if Republican lawmakers have the courage to say out loud what they already know.

The midterms are days away. Democrats and Republicans are watching.

— Lorraine O’Hara, Thornton