I grew up in Massachusetts in an Irish Catholic family where politics was talked about openly at the kitchen tables, at the dining room tables and in the living rooms and the parlors of family and friends. Roosevelt and Kennedy were the heroes of the day. After Kennedy died, there were no more heroes that were talked about in my family. The Democratic Party that my family and I belonged to for generations was changing.

My family was vocally expressing the various things they did not like about their party platform. They felt that the Democratic Party was not looking out for the hard-working citizens of America and the party platform (www.democrat.com) was turning toward a more liberal, socialistic, anti-God, anti-Christian society. Many of my family members who were generational Democrats changed to Republican.

In 1985, I moved to Maine from Massachusetts with my husband and family and got involved with local government. At that time is when I realized that I, too, needed to change from a generational Democrat to a Republican. I understood that the Republican Party was not perfect, but the party platform was conservative versus liberal. To this day, the Republican party platform (www.mainegop.com) reflects my values and principles, and is not against the laws of God. Under the banner of the Republican Party, I am proud to be an American.

For me, the Republican Party is the last stronghold to get back the American dream of under God, indivisible, with justice for all, to build a more prosperous future for our children and grandchildren, and to have people take care of themselves, rather than government taking care of people by means of over taxing its working citizens.

Donna Flanagan, Biddeford