Letters: Dec. 6, 2004

(3 of 5)

Sullivan described exactly what I have been feeling since Election Day. Americans are wallowing in their divisions, and it is only hurting us. My friends and family are still spitting at one another from the right and left corners with valid but hopelessly opposite points. And you know what? I'm tired. And ready to just get on with life. I hope the country will take Sullivan's words to heart. I don't think we can afford not to.

TIFFANY SALEH

San Diego

Hands-On Heroism

TIME'S reporting on what I did during the election season suggested that I was such a Kerry partisan that I "grappled with a heckling Dean supporter at a Kerry rally in New Hampshire" [Nov. 15]. This was no doubt in reference to a January incident in which I helped two Dean security people escort a heckler from a Dean event. The heckler had been screaming and throwing elbows for quite some time when I stepped in to help. The manager of the Palace Theater said I was a hero for preventing the situation from getting out of control, and two weeks later I was honored to be presented with the key to the city of Manchester by Mayor Robert Baines.

AL FRANKEN

New York City

Now Hiring: Dem Strategists

In "What Happens to the Losing Team?" [Nov. 15], Democratic Leadership Council president Bruce Reed said, "We can't let George Bush define our future." It wasn't Bush who was defining the Democratic Party. I voted as much against Michael Moore, French President Jacques Chirac, the U.N., the élitist media, stuck-up Hollywood and MoveOn.org as for Bush. The single issue for me was the war on terrorism (which in my opinion does include Iraq). Maybe the Democratic Party should start to choose its friends a little better.

ROBERT P. ROSETTA

Plainsboro, N.J.

It's finally over, and the Republicans have firm control of the White House and Congress. The Democrats should now let them have their way, voting for or abstaining on every Republican measure put before them. That way, the choice in the next election will be crystal clear, and the voters will be able to elect the right leaders. With luck, perhaps people will stop taking cues from the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Al Franken, Michael Moore and Bill O'Reilly and start using their own brains to study the important issues facing the country.

FRANKLIN R. MUIRHEAD

Murphys, Calif.

Democrats repeated the mistake we made in 2000: we talked about real issues while Republicans spoke in emotional sound bites. Kerry used reason; Bush used fear. Fear always wins! Why can't Democrats find emotional sound bites? When will we learn? We need new campaign strategists!

BEVERLY FARRAND DUBREUIL

Fairfax, Va.

Second only to the satisfaction of the resounding Republican triumph has been watching the media attempt to figure out what happened. If Democrats really want to understand the red states, they need to talk less and listen more, judge less and learn more. Above all, they need to quit painting the "flyover" states with such a broad brush, get off their high horse and acquire some humility. Until then, we red-state voters will continue to quietly vote in record numbers for candidates we can respect and admire.

JAN KORDISCH

Oklahoma City, Okla.