Kelsey Palmer
Jacksonville Progress
JACKSONVILLE — I feel I must respond to Mr. Washburn's letter questioning Chuck Hopson's honesty and motives for switching parties.
He did tell you why he switched parties when he first announced his switch. When I first aligned myself with the Democratic Party, their platform more closely resembled my own beliefs and ideas about which direction our government should go. Then along came Obama and they seemed to take a real left turn and seemingly endorsed every liberal idea that came don from Washington, no matter how little real sense it made.
I can totally identify with not wanting to be mistakenly identified as someone who felt that way or endorsed those ideas. I know Mr. Hopson had a lot of friends and supporters in the Democratic Party and I'm sure he agonized over his decision.
It took a lot of courage to tell them that they no longer stood for the same ideals and principles as the people he had sworn to represent.
Having worked his campaign for several years, side by side with both Democratic and Republican supporters, I don't believe that he would have as many Republican supporters that he has always had if he didn't reflect their conservative views.
Chuck Hopson has always done his best to represent his constituents in Austin, even when some of those choices were not popular or what his "party" would have liked. That takes real honesty ... and courage.
He's also running because he wants to serve the people, not because someone asked him to because they thought he would beat "the other guy." You can usually bet that when a candidate is "asked" to run, somewhere down the line, those that did the asking are going to ask for something in return.
I know Chuck Hopson can't be "bought." His vote will always be an honest vote in the best interest of the people he represents, and that shows true courage, as well as honesty.
Vote for honesty and courage! Vote for Chuck Hopson!
Martha Hale,
Jacksonville
