LETTER: Governor, religion don't mix

Dear Governor Otter,

This is why I, a Republican did not vote for you. First of all, if you were to read Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution in its entirety, “no religious tests for public office,” it applies even to you. Which means, I simply do not care if you are a person who believes in traditional marriage or not. It is how well you run your administration, or fail to, that concerns me more. You were elected to govern a state, that by definition is comprised of: its residents and geographic location. A state is not however, solely comprised of well-heeled special interests, or radical religious and political groups. If the latter is all that your re-election is prepared to pander to, then it begs the question of why more people voted for you than for your opponent. Because most assuredly, you already propose to not govern effectively the interests of the state as a whole. As for the people who did vote for you, apparently they love hatred, fear, as well as admitted corruption existing in Boise. The people who did not vote for you, did not care for that at all.

Do be advised that the Ninth and 10th amendments to the U.S. Constitution do not mean, that you and the State Legislature can waste the time and tax dollars of the Idaho citizenry, on symbolic gestures against the Obama administration. The Obama administration does not personally run the state of Idaho, you do. The Obama administration is not the scapegoat for your personal failures as a governor. You are responsible for any failures that occur within your administration. Just as the Idaho State Legislature is responsible for any failures of its own making.

In closing, if you are going to make election or re-election campaigns based solely on hatred and fear, then quite frankly, you have nothing to offer the citizens of this state of Idaho. Neither do the people — on the left — who voted for you.

JOAN E. HARMAN

Coeur d’Alene