Guest Commentary
by Lou Russo
Last week in an interview with the Union-Tribune, I said that I was going to vote for Duncan Hunter — and everyone I know is still going to vote for him. While there has been equivocating on the part of many Republicans in the County, I choose to not do that. My reasons were very simple.
I took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution, including the 6th Amendment which contains the elements of our nation’s presumption of innocence. Even the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 11, states: ‘Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.’ Every single American, regardless of political party, should agree with this.
I’ve no idea if Hunter and his wife broke any laws. That’s why we have a legal system.
Nearly as important to me as a Republican/Conservative, is that Duncan’s opponent in the race for the district I live in is the antithesis of a candidate I would vote to put into office. Are we to “cut off our nose to spite our face”? By voting for Hunter, we Republicans stay true to our values, including that we believe in our Constitution. After the legal proceedings are done, we can all sit down and decide what we want to do based upon the outcome.
Now is not the time to vote Democrat/liberal nor to “sit this one out.” The last thing I want, and what many in Hunter’s district don’t want, is to be “represented” in Congress by an individual none of us agree with on the issues that are important to us, our families and our neighbors.
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Russo is a member of the Alpine Planning Group, a former San Diego Rural Fire Board member and was a Donald Trump delegate from California to the Republican National Convention. He is running for a seat on the Alpine school board.