Professional wrestler delivers a body slam to professional politics

My candidate for governor lost. I did not agree with all she stood for, and she did not take a strong enough stand against abortion, but I felt she was the best candidate to represent my views in Maryland government.

Her campaign, and that of her opponent, were very negative. His campaign was brutal, attacking every out-of-context statement he could find. Her campaign was also negative, though perhaps retaliatory. Lies and half-truths were everywhere. At the end, advertising became strictly negative, tearing down the opponent rather than building up the candidate.

After my candidate's hesitant concession speech began, her opponent's camp mocked the words she had just spoken. This was pure mean-spiritedness.

Meanwhile, the news from Minnesota, my home state, was amazing. Jesse Ventura, professional wrestler, beat the two professional politicians he faced. One of those was the son of the late Hubert H. Humphrey, who still is adored in Minnesota.

Mr. Ventura spent a fraction of the millions his opponents spent. He gained his popularity by debating with his opponents on the issues at hand and by being honest and down-to-earth.

Some of us may laugh at Gov. Jesse "The Body" Ventura. But I think we need to give the voters of Minnesota credit. They voted on the issues and the man who could represent their views on those issues. They learned about their candidate by listening to him debate his opponents, not by advertisements meant to drag down a fellow citizen.

Suzy Robertson

Towson

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After reading The Sun Nov. 5, in particular the coverage of the governor-elect of Minnesota, I was left with this sick feeling in my stomach.

The press is trying to crucify Jesse Ventura because he, a former pro wrestler, won an election. Is this not America? Isn't one of the basic principles of democracy to allow anyone to run for public office?

Mr. Ventura felt that a change was needed in government and had the courage to take action. Do you think that if he ran in Maryland we would vote any differently? People are sick of the way our government operates.

Gov. Parris N. Glendening thinks he was given a mandate to continue his policies, when in fact he was elected because he is the lesser of two evils, and there was no third choice. Most politicians don't seem to understand the level of frustration of the American voter.

Do not condemn this man for wanting to change his state for the better.

Has anyone outside the state of Minnesota read his platform? Have any of The Sun's reporters talked to the man? I think we should look at the election of Mr. Ventura as democracy in its purest form.

He is a true representation of the people, not another two-faced politician who changes his beliefs and policies based on polls and surveys.

Tom Paxton

Columbia

Cure for what ails the Maryland GOP

What the Republican Party in Maryland needs is another George P. Mahoney.

Philip Myers

Baltimore

African-American voters didn't need ads as guides

Your article "Did ads lay it on the line or did they cross it?" regretfully reflected a stereotypically prevalent view that the African-American electorate is wedded to the single issue of civil rights. While civil rights are understandably important to a group only recently totally enfranchised in much of America, are civil rights any less important to women, other minorities or even white males?

Your article failed to address the interest black voters shared with the remaining electorate on other campaign issues. Were black voters no less fed up with Zippergate than others, or not as concerned about gun control, crime, education, economic development and the environment as whites?

To assume that African-American voters could be sucker-punched by race baiting does not attribute to them the same respect as other groups who supported the incumbent. Also, the suggestion that black support for the Democratic candidate might somehow fuel our racial divide is to ignore the obvious, that those who wish to have such a disconnect never need an excuse for it.

Black voters are no more motivated or bored by the political shenanigans of either party than anyone else, although when given the choice between Tweedledee and Tweedledum, African-Americans like many others, opt to keep those they know vs. those they don't.

Again, civil rights rhetoric is off the mark, as evidenced by a recent piece in The Sun quoting black leaders denying any racist inclinations on the part of Ellen R. Sauerbrey. Clearly, she is not a racist.

So what's the real reason she lost? You would have been better served examining these issues. Or perhaps stereotypically, you are just not yet accustomed to the idea of African Americans exercising their democratic franchise like everybody else.

Craig Anthony Bannister

Baltimore

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I usually keep my two cents within my own crowd but since the topic that seems to be baffling politicians is the high turnout of black voters, I thought I would add mine this one time.

I didn't need anyone's ads to make up my mind. I did not appreciate the statements that Ellen R. Saurbrey saw fit to make when she lost the last election. I didn't appreciate her remarks then, and they still rankle today.

I, like most Baltimoreans, have a long memory. One of the first things any politician should know how to do is lose gracefully. Her behavior in the last election was disgraceful, and I never forgot it. I took her remarks personally. This is the town where I was born and raised. My vote Nov. 3 was my way of getting my point across.

Elgerthia M. Dodds

Baltimore

Racial preference wrong, even for a good cause

Clarence Page may claim that affirmative action is needed to address past injustices ("Affirmative action: another call to mend it, not end it," Nov. 3, Opinion Commentary), but racism by any other name still stinks.

Ayn Rand, philosopher and author of "Atlas Shrugged," wrote that racism is "the lowest, most crudely primitive form of collectivism." Americans have witnessed the carnage committed under various forms of collectivist ideals throughout the world and consistently reject the Marxist premises of liberal intellectuals who, failing to persuade, stoop to name-calling.

I am not a "yahoo" of the political right because I disagree with the view that a little bit of racism is all right, as long as it's for a good cause. I hold the view expressed by Martin Luther King Jr. that one should be judged by the content of one's character, and I reject the inculcation of guilt.

Manfred Smith

Columbia

Double standard for jocks in Howard County schools?

When I read the article about the young man, Danny Bayron, going to Wilde Lake High School in Columbia, I saw red ("A better day, a clearer future," Nov. 4).

Here is a young man who made a lot of bad choices in his life. He found a friend to take him in and to help him turn his life around. I am thrilled that he is no longer into the drugs and other illegal acts. This young man is attending a school in Howard County without paying tuition.

What I don't understand is why a young woman, Danielle Rash, who is living with her aunt because Danielle's stepfather will not allow her to return to her home, must pay tuition to attend Glenelg High School ("Despite offers of help, school's still out for teen," Nov. 3).

The answer seems obvious. The young man is a football player, and according to the newspaper, quite a good one. Both families realized their children were better off living away from home. Danny's mother "signed papers that allowed him to attend Howard County schools on a hardship basis without paying tuition." Danielle's mother filed papers to give legal custody to Danielle's aunt.

What must be done to get equality in our schools? Had Danielle run away from home, lived on the streets, done drugs and committed other crimes, would that have made her eligible for a hardship to forgo tuition? If Danny had just been a good student and not a super jock, would that have changed the school's standards to make him pay tuition?

I am happy that Danielle may return to school because of the generosity of someone she doesn't know. I don't begrudge the education of either of these young people. They are entitled to free education. I always thought that meant in the community in which they lived.

Mary Ann Witter

Hanover

Pub Date: 11/10/98

JTC