Letters to the Editor
daveg
Published Letters: 9 Editor's Choice: 1
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Question I want a senator to ask.
[Read the article: Alito's bad luck]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The one question I would like to see Leahy or one of the other democratic senators ask is:
"You now way that your anti-abortion statement on the 1985 application for the Reagan White House was just an attempt to get a job and should not be taken as proof of how you would vote as a Justice. How can we trust that what you are saying now can be believed and not just another example of saying whatever it takes to get the job?"
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Missing the point
[Read the article: How to run good]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]IMHO too many of the letter writers have missed the most important point of the article. In order to win elections the Democrats need to stop pandering to the middle and stand up for what they believe in. Living in Kansas, I know what it is like to be in the minority, a well educated Democrat. One of the biggest problem I see is that the leaders of the Democratic Party keep trying to triangulate and find the properly nuanced position rather than staking out a principled position, explaining it to the people and saying this is my position you can vote for it or not but this is where I stand. People in the midwest firmly believe the old saw "You have to believe in something or you will fall for anything." They see the Democrats as picking positions based on polls and getting elected rather than based on their beliefs. That is why the Kerry quote about "I voted for it before I voted against it" is so memorable, because it points to the lack of principled positions that too many of the party elite appear to embrace.
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Let's add relegation to US sports.
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I feel what would help US sports would be to add the concept of relegation to the mix. Until the last couple of years, one complaint about the Bengals was that the owner would take the revenue sharing money and then not spend it on the team. The same can be said about the Royals, if these owners knew that refusing to spend money on their team was going to cost them millions, they would then spend to help their clubs. It might hurt some cities to lose their major league team, but it would also add to the promoted city.
Most important, it would eliminate the meaningless games down the stretch when both teams are eliminated and are only playing out the string. It might hurt my Cubs in the short turn, but it would make those September games worth watching.
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Need a finisher
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Nicepieceofdonkey hit the nail on the head about the problem with our homegrown talent on the soccer field. youth leagues are used to promote teamwork and a positive experience for all involved. Now these are important concepts and need to be encouraged in the youth, but one thing it does is discourage the stars from continuing in soccer.
Watching the US games my main impression is that we do not have a finisher, someone who knows where the goal is and is not afraid to shoot. It looked like in qualifying that Brian Ching had some of these attributes, but for what ever reason Arena never put him in. Until the US can produce a world class striker, they will continue to be an also-ran in the World Cup.
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Pandering is not the way to go
[Read the article: Do Democrats need the South?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The way to win is to stand on principles. Ford's problem was that he ran a campaign that was (as other's have stated) Republican Lite. Kerry's problem was that he came across as being ashamed of his positions (not saying that he was, but the perception that he would say anything to get elected was an important meme). The way to attack this problem is to be forceful and proud of what the Democratic Party stands for. We are (or should be) the party that stands up for the working class people. We should attack the religious extremists by comparing the number of biblical verses referring to helping the poor with the number about gay marriage or abortion.
Dean is right, the Democratic Party needs to compete in the south, but on our terms. We may lose in the short term because of "values", but if we continue to push support for the working class we will eventually win.
Middle American and the South respect the "straight shooter". They might not always agree, but they will respect the party that stand up for what it believes. And perhaps more important, the party will be able to respect itself when it looks in the mirror.
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Consistancy
[Read the article: Hitting the trail with Sam Brownback]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Here in Kansas, those of us who have been forced to follow Brownback's career understand that Brownback is consistant. Unfortunately, he has been consistantly wrong.
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Obama not Clinton
[Read the article: Can Democrats learn to talk about race?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If I were asked in an exit poll who I would vote for, Clinton v. McCain and Obama v. McCain. I would be tempted to tell the pollster that I would favor McCain over Clinton and Obama over McCain. Not because I would actually vote that way, but because if the polls broke that way it would help my candidate. Yes, I might LIE to a pollster. It is my feeling that this is happening in a number of cases by voters who are sophisticated enough to realize just how easy it is to manipulate polls, all you have to do is give the answers that move the results in your favor. Otherwise how could William Hung have lasted on American Idol as long as he did. I have seen a number of articles claiming that polls over report the support for African American candidates because no one wants to be labeled a racist in public, well this could be just another example of this phenomenom.