Reader Comments

Editor: The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News had a segment asking whether President Bush is "unelectable?" The guests were Tony Snow of Fox and Larry Sabato. Sabato, a UVA Professor, is a recognized expert on presidential elections. Snow favors Bush. Sabato started off by saying it would take a "miracle" for Bush to win. No president since Truman has been this far down in the polls at this point, and then went on to win in November. "Miracles happen," he added, but the miracle would need to be Trumanesque.

Snow thinks Bush still has a chance to win, but must start campaigning like a Truman. His campaign thus far has been "lousy." He seems unable to tell the story of his accomplishments, which Snow thinks are many. Still, he observed that voters don't really know what Bush's domestic policies are. "He must run as the nonincumbent incumbent."

Sabato analyzed the electoral votes, and that was equally bleak. Ohio could still go for Bush, but he is in serious trouble in Florida. Snow put Nevada in the loss column for Bush, because of the backlash on Yucca Mountain (nuclear waste). I hadn't thought that Yucca Mountain would be decisive in Nevada's voting, but is beginning to look like it will be. Kerry spoke in Henderson -- next to Las Vegas -- and hit hard on the issue. He got a six-column headline in the nest day's Reno paper. Gerald O'Driscoll

Editor: Despite the near-universal consensus that Ohio is going to be the "Florida" of 2004, indications from the grass-roots in Ohio do not reflect this priority. Some political observers say that Bush-Cheney is acting like the election will be in November 2005, not November 2004.

For example, we keep hearing about the advertising budget of Bush-Cheney. One would expect advertising to be particularly heavy. But the largest Ohio-based political radio talk show has been trying since February to get Bush-Cheney to return phone calls about advertising in Ohio. The top Ohio-based political talk show is rated #1 among women across all of Ohio across all evening programming of all types (including music), #4 among men, and has a very high percentage of African-Americans in its audience. It is conservative and strongly pro-Bush. In fact, the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" organization was launched on this Ohio-based radio show, as the first place in the nation. Yet the Bush Cheney campaign is totally ignoring this pro-Bush radio talk show.

Similarly, other than appearances by the big guy, George Bush, little else seems to be happening in Ohio. The intense grassroots organization we would expect in perhaps the most important State in the nation for an election only 3 months away is just not showing up. The level of organization in Virginia, which is not "in play," is higher than in Ohio. In other words, it seems that once again the typical over-paid, fat-cat, beltway bandits are sucking up all the money of campaigns and living high off the hog from all the Bush-Cheney money, but not actually doing very much on the ground. Roger Lewis

Editor: How can you support the Bush administration if you believe that the purpose of government is to protect those freedoms through the preservation of internal order, the provision of national defense, and the administration of justice; That when government ventures beyond these rightful functions, it accumulates power, which tends to diminish order and liberty; That the Constitution of the United States is the best arrangement yet devised for empowering government to fulfill its proper role, while restraining it from the concentration and abuse of power; That the genius of the Constitution- the division of powers- is summed up in the clause that reserves primacy to the several states, or to the people, in those spheres not specifically delegated to the Federal government--Which has trampled on state's rights and has ignored the constitution more than any administration since, perhaps, Lincoln. GNP

Gentlemen: In regard to your concerns about Social Security, HR 4851 has just come to my attention. This bill keeps the government out of the SS Fund and allows the owners the opportunity to participate in their own retirement security. Those who do not support this bill should have their names published so that we can remove them from office as soon as possible. It is obvious that since LBJ started the plundering of the SS Fund, trillions have been squandered on all manner of government projects, many of which appear annually in the "Pig Book." Now my concern is that those who want to continue to plunder the retirement funds of the citizens will manage to slip in amendments to allow them to continue their plundering. John Haumersen, Racine, WI

Editor: It appears that Jerome Borden may have missed several of Sandy Berger's "alleged" crimes. Interestingly they are exactly Martha's misdeeds: (1) Lying to a Federal officers, and (2) Obstruction of Justice. With any luck, the former National Security Advisor will draw Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum for his criminal trial, and we will get to see another FOB (Friend of Bill) do the "perp walk"! Neal J. Lang - Boca Raton, FL

Editor: "Winner-Take-All" is a criminal conspiracy that exists in 48 States. In other words, in some Congressional Districts where Republican Presidential Electors win but the majority of a State's CDs go for Kerry, then ALL electors from that state will be Kerry Presidential Electors. That means that Kerry Presidential Electors who lose in Republican Congressional Districts still get seated to the Electoral College even though they lost the election in their CD. This is denial of democratic principals and is a theft of votes cast in Republican dominated CDs. This conspiracy of the Democrats and Republicans called "Winner-Take-All" must be ended. It is dividing the country. It is also confusing the citizenry about the Electoral College itself. The Electoral College is one of the last bastions of Federalism. Socialistic Democrats who wish to centralize all municipal, civic, public and State authority under one 'National' government are currently calling for the termination of the Electoral College. They are taking advantage of the confusion raised by the Republicrats' "Winner-Take-All" system of Presidential Elections. Republicans are ALLOWING Democrats to consolidate the States into one 'National' Government instead of maintaining the Federal Government and its limitations. I expect the socialistic Democrats to attempt this, but I am shocked by the Republicans' participation in the "Winner-Take-All" abandonment of American Federalist Democratic principals. How about covering Michael Paroutka, an actual conservative, of the Constitution Party?
Thanks for your concern, Gary R. Grella, Hempstead, N.Y.

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