‘America’s Long March’

The thrust of your editorial, (April 27), “America’s Long March,” points up the sad fact that Americans, when exercising their voting franchise, use little discrimination in choosing their leaders. You are so right. It would seem that the average citizen either votes without thinking or chooses not to vote at all giving rise to great mists of apathy.

Our sagacious Founding Fathers, as canny as they were, could not possibly imagine the things that would be wrought in the modern age, yet alone prepare for the contingencies that have developed. With some reservation they hoped for the intelligent use of the ballot. Their hopes, of course, have been dashed by the parade of jackasses who have sought (and in some instances gained) the highest office in the land. The problem is not with the creaking electoral system but with the candidates offered by the major political parties.

Those who are concerned with the problem often ask, “Where have the giants gone?” Where are the Lincolns, the Theodore Roosevelts, the Franklin Roosevelts, the Harry Trumans. No face on the political landscape is viewed as a genuine statesman or a person of enriched dreams nurtured by a fertile imagination. The field is so crowded it reminds one of a mob scene.

Not since the election of 1948 when Truman was elected have we had a President of true merit. Some have been sincere and honest men, like Dwight Eisenhower and Jack Kennedy, others epitomized mediocrity like Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, others have been monumental disasters as exemplified by Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.

As long as the voter accepts second-rate candidates (on any level of government) funded by PAC money and the use of slick television and cunning consultants, there is little that can be done to change the system. We don’t really need an overhaul of the machinery so much as we need candidates with brains, compassion and a deep understanding of what public trust entails.

PETE TORGE

Hollywood