MAIL CALL: A VICTORY FOR GEORGE W. BUSH

I read your blow-by-blow account of both parties with a sinking feeling of futility; if all these political machinations go on (and they assuredly do), what do I matter? Why do I even bother to vote? Along with millions of others, I suffered through the Swift Boat ads, the service-record comparisons, the lies, the half-truths, the endless spin of cable news and the debates over the debates. By the time I voted, I felt so pummeled and beat up I really didn't care who won. Then I read "A President Who Listens" by Anna Quindlen. I'm 55 years old, and I've been through a few elections. After 32 years involved in union elections, I've seen more than enough. By the time I was done reading Quindlen's incredible article, I was near tears. Her masterful words brought back a longing I thought had died: a longing for Americans who can talk to each other--not across the "great divide" of Red and Blue States, but to each other as Americans, about how we can get rid of that great divide. Thank you, Anna Quindlen, for restoring a dream, even if it turns out to be pie in the sky.
Dan Praay
Durham, N.C.

For some time now I've had the Feb. 9, 2004, cover of NEWSWEEK taped to my refrigerator. The pictures on the cover include George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell and Donald Rumsfeld. The headline reads: WE WERE ALL WRONG. And below, the question: Will Anyone Pay? We got our answer when John Kerry conceded the election: No. None of them will pay. Only we will. God help us.
Valerie Boles Wagoner
West Des Moines, Iowa

Based on the reporting in your Nov. 15 issue, I have come to three conclusions. First, the Republican Party, as embodied by Bush-Cheney '04, ran a ruthless, unprincipled, successful campaign. Second, the Democratic Party had the better man. Third, the biggest losers in this election are the American people.
Celia Sofie
Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Moral values? And here I thought the most important, universal ones were love thy neighbor, tell the truth and behave ethically. Guess who voted for Kerry in the "heartland"? My 83-year-old mother, who lovingly raised five children and is the model of kindness and generosity for friends and family alike, and my devout sister-in-law, who devoted 25 years of her life working as a nurse on a Navajo reservation. Oh, and my firefighter cousin. The list goes on. Imagine my surprise to learn they have inferior moral values, well out of the mainstream. Heaven help us, indeed.
Linda Tuyn
Binghamton, N.Y.

It's amazing that only dumb people voted for Bush. Smart people knew better, but alas, outside New York and California, there aren't any smart people, only drooling, knuckle-dragging religious zealots. Maybe next time some of the dumb people will be enlightened enough to elect a liberal agenda supported by gay activists, antiwar activists, anti-religionists, feminists, celebrities, street poets, George Soros, Michael Moore and "young people."
Michelle Elan-Tremblant
Los Angeles, Calif.

Abraham Lincoln, arguably our greatest president for keeping the republic intact while a raging Civil War threatened to tear it apart, espoused a simple philosophy during his first campaign for the nation's highest elective office, in 1860: "When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. And that's my religion." If you listen very carefully--following Karl Rove's Machiavellian mix of wedge issues like gay marriage, reproductive rights and evangelical "moral values" to win the election, even if it meant capitalizing on our deepest divisions--you may hear the sound of our 16th president weeping for us.
David M. Petrou
Washington, D.C.