To the editor:
My late father, Joseph H. McGillicuddy, who was active in the Republican Party and served in the Maine Legislature and as state treasurer, voted the straight party ticket, except in the presidential election of 1960, when he took his heart in his hands and marked his ballot for John F. Kennedy, a fellow Irish Catholic and also, my father thought, the better candidate.
I urge Maine Republicans to follow that example and vote not the party line but for the one candidate with the experience, skills and temperament to do the job.
Even if Hillary Clinton’s perceived flaws mean Republicans must hold their noses, do not vote for the party’s impulsive, rash and inexperienced nominee nor abstain from voting.
Vote for Clinton. I hope the Bush family and other prominent Republicans who have said they won’t vote at all can bring themselves to do likewise. We have, after all, a secret ballot – and a sacred duty.
