THE G.O.P. PARTY CRASHER
"The Republicans may have a David and Goliath battle here. Run, John, run! You are a refreshing addition to the presidential race." PAMELA S. LACEY Denver
No one should be surprised at the emergence of Senator John McCain as a serious contender for the presidency [CAMPAIGN 2000, Feb. 14]. McCain is joining the long line of war heroes who aspired to that office, starting with George Washington and continuing through Andrew Jackson, Ulysses Grant and Dwight Eisenhower. The Vietnam War was unpopular, but it created its own heroes as well as victims. The country is again longing for a heroic figure. McCain fits the picture, as both victim and hero. SAM TENNENBAUM Miami Beach
In his autobiography, Faith of My Fathers, McCain shows that he possessed, as a youth at the Naval Academy and later as a POW, a degree of defiance that is alarming. His behavior demonstrated more than merely poor judgment; it bordered on rank stupidity. Such a characteristic is hardly a qualification for the Chief Executive of the world's superpower. McCain's insolent behavior as a POW in Vietnam contributed nothing to the honor of the U.S. but did add to his misery. JACK D. WALKER Antioch, Tenn.
McCain is like a cool glass of water on a hot day and a shot of brandy on a cold winter's night. He will be there for you, especially when you need him most. ALGIS K. POVILAIKA Coleman, Wis.
While the media rats run squeaking behind this Pied Piper, let's take a look at McCain's record. He voted to cut funding for toxic-waste cleanups, supports mining on public lands, supports logging in national forests. He voted against the Brady Bill and against the assault-weapons ban. He voted against the minimum-wage increase and against equal pay for women, as well as against a woman's right to choose. Shall we all go running over the cliff after another grinning, cunning trickster? CAROLE HILL Crystal Lake, Ill.
I am appalled that McCain is being attacked for accepting special-interest money while George W. Bush implies that the tooth fairy left $68 million in campaign funds under his pillow. ROB JOHNSON Mount Vernon, Wash.
I am incensed at the way the media have pushed for the nomination of McCain, advertising his "story" as he tells it. Are all you people so celebrity driven, so desperate for copy, that you give this charlatan hours of free airtime and volumes of print? This nation has suffered through seven years of Bill Clinton, and we don't want another supremely egotistical, disgusting self-promoter in the White House. MARY L. RAKE Fort Campbell, Ky.
I am a conservative Democrat. It has been a long time since I could support a candidate because I believed in him as an honorable man, not merely because he was the lesser of two evils. If McCain does not make it through the primaries, I guess I'll have to go back to selecting the lesser of two evils. ROBERT TAYLOR Delta Junction, Ark.
Earth to the G.O.P.: George W. Bush is not electable. If you want to win in November, nominate McCain. DEREK HYMEL Bellevue, Wash.