Letter to Editor of my local newspaper

Dean's got the skills for presidency
Some say he's liberal. Some say he's conservative. Some say he's moderate, leaning one way or the other.

Howard Dean is hard to label because he's not politically correct. He says things that horrify both extremes. Does that remind you of anyone?
It reminds me of Harry Truman. Harry Truman was not politically correct either. His wife Bess had a hard time getting him to say "manure."

In 1948, political experts said Harry Truman was "unelectable." The big money was on Thomas Dewey. But in 1948, the people went to the polls and said, "Take that, Big Money!" And they got a president who fought a Congress beholden to the rich and bent on dismantling FDR's New Deal. When Harry Truman was pushed by the powerful, the powerful got a big surprise.

The people got a president who gave them a racially integrated military, and implemented the GI bill of rights so that the combat troops who came home from World War II could get a free college education and a government-backed loan to buy a house. Unlike the present occupant of the Oval Office, Harry Truman supported the troops in deeds as well as words.

I hope voters in 2004 recognize a champion of fairness and justice the way they did in 1948.

Go get ‘em, Harry! (I mean, Howard.)
Ann Adams, Oak Harbor

The Truman one is the worst.

Truman never had to waffle or explain what he meant... his supporters never had to resort to the tired "out of context!" argument.

Dean does not have Truman's humble origins either, nor real combat experience. Artillery captain in WW1 vs. Cocoa captain in the ski lodge. No comparison.

Dean has never made a decision that affected the lives and deaths of millions, like Hiroshima, Nagasaki, or the labor strikes, the implementation of the Marshall Plan, NATO, etc.

They do both share a penchant for making embarrassing off-the-cuff comments, but that is as far as it goes for those two. Truman always stood by what he said though.

That is a letter to the editor that people will read. It draws the reader in with the second line, makes a colorful comparison and then closes with a point that everyone would agree on (support of the troops in deeds).


Cher