First vote for integrity not Cooper

I want everyone to know what I saw at the Tenino Oregon Trail Days Parade. I’m 18 and this will be my first year voting.

I went with my mom to support John Hutchings. I saw Jim Cooper flying a Gadsden flag from a big yellow truck. I thought this wasn’t right because Jim Cooper is on the Olympia City Council. Everything I had read about him was that he wanted a local income tax for education.

I went to his website. His achievements seemed to be Cooper taking credit for other people’s work. His website talks about “Opportunity for All” and a strong social safety net. Cooper’s website doesn’t have any Tea Party positions at all. It was clear to me that Cooper was trying to be something he’s not to get votes.

My father is an active duty NCO with the Army Reserve. He raised me to live according to the Army values of loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage.

I am not a perfect person, but I could never represent myself to be something I am not the way that Jim Cooper did to voters that day. That is what young people aren’t going to take from our leaders in the future. We are going to change this country for the better by abandoning politicians who have such low integrity.

John Hutchings has all the integrity that Jim Cooper doesn’t and then some. My first vote will be for Hutch.

This story was originally published October 18, 2016 at 5:16 PM with the headline "First vote for integrity not Cooper."