I am writing this letter in response to comments made by students in the article titled “U.S. Senate Candidates Debate at Law School” (ODE, Apr. 3). I had the pleasure of attending the debate and as I read the article I was a little shocked at statements my colleagues made. A law student was quoted as saying, “I think it’s unfortunate to see someone who has the values of the Democratic Party like Frohnmayer run as an Independent and subvert the party.” Claiming that John Frohnmayer has the values of the Democratic party indicates to me that this student was not at the same debate as I was, for Mr. Frohnmayer made it unmistakably clear that he is running as an Independent because he feels that our political system is broken. In fact, Mr. Frohnmayer has been asked to run for Senate on behalf of both the Republican and Democratic parties and has turned down both parties in favor of his own conscience.
What makes no sense to me is that a lot of us “educated” folks demand a plethora of choices in our lives from what type of latte we want, to what classes we take at the University, to what type of Yoga we practice. However, when it comes to politics, we have allowed ourselves to be lulled into the belief that there are only two choices, Republican or Democrat. I was raised by a very conservative family and initially registered to vote as Republican. However, after going away to college I realized that I didn’t necessarily agree with all of the Republican ideals and yet didn’t feel at ease amongst the Democrats. Did this mean that I had no political home? It was then that I realized I should register as an Independent.
It was so refreshing to see in John Frohnmayer someone who is willing to say, “No, I’m not going to let party ideals or whoever backs my party dictate my judgment in serving our country.” If more of us who thought like John would follow his lead and act like him we could actually see that every vote does count. Thank you Mr. Frohnmayer for working toward what could and should be a turning point in our country’s history.
Lindsey Joseph
University law student