Ronald Sem, Wausau, Wis.
I graduated from Minot High School in 1959 and from the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, in 1964. The Republican Party that I remember is not the party of today. I am one of the 47 percent who Mitt Romney called bottom-feeding blood suckers who live off entitlements like Social Security and Medicare.
My parents were not active in politics but despite having very limited financial resources they never forgot to be concerned with the welfare of others or their belief in equal rights. They lived during the Depression and my father was in the CCC's, a government program. He experienced being laid off as a railroad worker and yes, needed to draw unemployment from time to time. He saw the need for unions. He was a proud man who I remember seeing on national televison walking through flood waters pulling a boat during the first Minot flood. My parents went back and rebuilt and helped others.
My mother was also a proud woman who believed in the rights of women. She experienced the discrimination in employment, the expected role of women in society, and the things we call the War on Women today. She worked part-time jobs but made sure she was home to care for her children. I wish she could have lived to see females having the opportunity to particiapate in athletics, which she loved. I recall seeing her play softball in a skirt and her playing catch with me.
I have faith the people of North Dakota will reject the far right Tea Party mentality that seems to have taken over the Republican Party. I realize North Dakota is a conservative state but please send an intelligent person to Congress.