Re: “I’m a conservative. Here’s why I support the For the People Act”:
Eric Carlson writes that his stance arises from “conservative values … of honor, integrity and heeding the wisdom of our ancestors.”
Excuse me? The values Carlson cites are values of human decency, not values of a position on the political spectrum. Progressives who applaud the honoring of Billy Frank Jr. with a statue in the U.S. Capitol are “heeding the wisdom of our ancestors.” Progressives who decry the “Big Lie” of a stolen election that led to the Jan. 6 violence in Washington, D.C., are acting from a commitment to integrity and honor.
I agree that such values “make the strongest case” on behalf of the For the People Act. But to claim such values define conservatism (begging the question of what values define progressivism) is to contribute to polarization that bedevils our ability to apply shared values of decency to crafting effective policies.
Melinda Mueller, Seattle