From Hank in NY:

Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2008 1:00 PM
To: 'oped@washpost.com'
Subject: To The Editor

“We Should Be Celebrating: Not Fighting”

The leading Democratic candidates for President, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, are trying to “out-mean” each other and in so doing are giving the Republicans all the fodder they need to use against them in the fall. The idea that a black man, a woman and the son of dirt poor southerners have all risen to the levels they have, is cause for celebration of an America that has finally realized the vision and promises of John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, and Martin Luther King’s dream from the mountaintop of a country where all people are equal under the law.

Any of these men and women are fit and qualified to be President, and they should stake out the high ground and campaign on the incredibly difficult issues of concern to all Americans. Whose healthcare plan is better, who will be best at saving the environment, which one has the better plan for extracting us from Iraq and bringing peace to the Middle east, and which candidate will truly be a uniter, are far more important issues than who reminds voters more of JFK.

I fervently hope that the campaign for the democratic nomination for President does not spiral into a nasty, finger-pointing and mean-spirited affair. Any of the leading Democratic candidates will beat any of the current Republican pretenders, unless their in-fighting and personal attacks turn-off voters to the extent that they (the voters) will vote in a Republican.