To the editor:

I have been on vacation (actually I am retired) so it’s really a “get-away.” Friends of mine have been e-mailing me stating that the on-line Record “letters to the editor” have been blasting the Record and me — calling me a Republican.

First I want to thank you for publishing my comments. I really mean this as I consider it an honor to have you publish my concerns.

Second, I was raised a Democrat, my first vote was for Lyndon Johnson. My last vote as a Democrat was Jimmy Carter’s first term.

I was young and married with two children, living in Lynnwood.

My first vote as a Republican was for Ronald Reagan and I have voted Republican ever since — once in a while, if there was a Henry “Scoop” Jackson Democrat out there, I would vote for him or her.

In 2004, I voted Republican, but I was getting disappointed with the party. It seems the Republicans were going more liberal in order to get the votes, and the Democrats were going even further left to distance themselves from the Republicans. So about 2007, I really became disappointed with the Republican Party.

In the last election, November 2008 , I did not vote for John McCain; I voted against Barack Obama and his socialist/Marxist doctrine.

I am not a Republican; I am a Conservative.

In closing, thank you for publishing my comments and for taking the heat. It is obvious that south Island County is liberal land — left of left. There is a short time left as a free nation with First Amendment rights still practiced. I really enjoy the debate.

Jim Dyment

Clinton