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The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 5, 2008

A Bumpy Road Ahead

Regarding "Historic Race Begins" (front page, June 4):

I'm not sure what all the cheering is about. Barack Obama, whom I support, has the Democratic nomination. He looks like a solid candidate - bright, articulate and with a strong sense of right and wrong. And he's running against a doddering old warmonger who is in bed with every elite lobbyist in Washington, and who seems to barely know where he is.

But the Republican fear-and-smear machine does not care about any of that. They showed us in 2004 that having the best presidential candidate does not mean a thing.

Get ready for a tidal wave of personal and political attacks with something for everyone. For the fearful, there will be terrifying images of Iran gone wild. For the religious faithful, Obama will be called a Muslim, which he never was, and pilloried for having attended the wrong church back home. For the gullible, the newspaper columnists and TV talking heads will question his patriotism for not thumping his chest hard enough and wearing the right patriotic jewelry.

Here it comes again. Instead of cheering, Democrats and independents should be preparing for the fight of a lifetime.

SCOTT COCHRAN

Tampa

A Day To Celebrate

I had lunch with my friend Tuesday; he is African-American and is old enough to have been called Negro, then colored and then black. He is old enough to have endured segregation and old enough to have witnessed the civil rights movement firsthand - and thus desegregation. He told me that he would have never dreamed that he would have lived long enough to see the day when a black man would be this close to the White House.

My friend is a Democrat. I am a Republican. But, we are more alike than we are different. Although I will not support his candidate due to my position on taxes and abortion, I am very happy for my friend. I am happy that he lived to see this day. I am happy for so many others like him that lived to see this day. My friend deserves this day because he has been a role model all of his life to his children and to his community.

SIMON M. CANASI

Tampa

Clinton Had Late Surge

His candidacy appears to be an expression of so many people, of hope, progress, change, of their finally being heard. Who could not be moved by that sentiment or the movement that achieved that end?

The reality, unfortunately, is somewhat short of the image:

A large percentage of the delegates and states were won by Barack Obama before the revelations about the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. After those disclosures, Hillary Clinton won the majority of contests and votes.

If Florida and Michigan had been included in full voice, as they should have, and not been ignored by the fawning press, Clinton would have been the clear leader in votes and delegates, with no Obama as "inevitable winner" momentum to build upon.

JAMES BOSHNACK

Lakeland

Will Sit Out Election

I will not vote. Why? Because "delegates" have chosen an unknown, unqualified, inexperienced person to run for president. He came out of nowhere and no one ever heard of him before he began his run. If he was older, had been through the school of hard knocks a little longer, then maybe, but not now. Since he came out of nowhere, hasn't anyone wondered why, who and how?

BETTE J. SLAYTON

Tampa

Put The Country First

Many women I know are feeling even more discriminated against these days than usual. Hillary Clinton's close-but-no-cigar campaign has many vowing to boycott the injustice, or worse, vote for John McCain. While I cannot begin to know how this latest disappointment feels to women waiting for long overdue presidential representation, as a disenfranchised Democrat in Florida, I do know a thing or two about losing a struggle to be heard.

There is a period of understandable anger and resentment. After that period however, the healthy thing to do is find a way to contribute to the reality at hand - not to withdraw, engage in self-pity or harbor hatred, but to again be a constructive part of the future's solution. It is time to think past our individual desires and put what is best for the country first.

ANDY CROSSFIELD

Lakeland

Democrats Are Sexist?

Several liberal talk shows plus numerous Internet and media articles suggest that Hillary Clinton has difficulty receiving her Democrat Party nomination because the nation is "sexist." Clinton referred to the sexist treatment that she has endured at the hands of the (mostly liberal) news media, and her husband has said the same.

I hope they realize that this is only the primary election and those "Republican sexists" are not competing yet. So, "Hell has finally frozen over" and the Democrats are admitting that half of their party is sexist and without favor for a woman candidate. These are the same Democrats who claim to be better than everyone else in America because they are all inclusive.

JIM REUL

Tampa

Supersized Delegates

Who are superdelegates? Who voted them into the position they are claiming in this presidential election? Why are they allowed to vote twice? I thought that was against the law. Other people are put behind bars for this. If they voted in the primary election in their state, then they should not be able to choose which candidate they are now backing before the convention meets this summer to announce the candidate for their party. Why do they have the power to sway the elections?

I have voted in every election since I was eligible in 1950, and in all those 58 years I have never heard of a superdelegate until this year. The media is really playing this up instead of checking into the legality of this situation. I voted for my representatives in state and nationally, but that did not put them into a superdelegate position to vote the way they want to regardless of how the majority of the people in their district voted. One debate is all we need before the primary and everyone in all the states should vote on the same day. The amount of money spent on the campaigns is atrocious. The time these three senators have spent away from their jobs is costly.

LEE NAGEL

Tampa

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