Editor,

I have been voting in every general election and nearly every primary election since 1968. This coming November election is the most consequential of my lifetime. More than ever before, this one will define who we are and set the direction for who we will be for decades to come. There truly are two deeply different visions of both.

One candidate has promised a dictatorial regime of retribution while delegating personnel and policy to Project 2025. As long as he can engineer the demise of all his federal criminal cases and golf, he will be content to let his associates tend to the details.

The other candidate shares a vision of investing in our struggling middle class, unions, public education, affordable housing and student debt-relief. She supports our long-standing international alliances and Ukraine’s sovereignty, while moving forward domestically with reproductive healthcare, voting rights and climate mitigation.

Meanwhile, NATO, the EU and fledgling democracies around the globe are pondering how to Trump-proof themselves, in case…

There is nothing ordinary or normal about this election cycle. We sailed past normal eight years ago. We will go forward. That’s our only path. But we have alternative paths ahead. One path is Project 2025 and her sister, Project 1916; a dystopian theocracy. The other presumes we can actually work together to make life better for EVERY person living within our borders.

We now get to choose if we can and will be better than this.

Rev. Elaine Silverstrim

Wilmington, Ohio