Assessing the Presidential Candidates

I found Christopher Matthews’ article “Simon’s Surge Reveals Depth of Democrats’ Death Wish” (Op-Ed Page, Nov. 29) most interesting. I suppose he is right, but then again, perhaps he is not.

Perhaps the people have finally tired of Reagan’s benign neglect. Benign neglect of the unemployed, the unemployed, the poor, the homeless, the sick and the elderly, not to mention the national debt or the trade deficit.

Perhaps, maybe, the people have even grown tired of Reagan’s fatal attraction with that already overfed and gorged seductress, the military-industrial complex. Possibly, they may have even grown weary of watching and reading about the life styles of the rich and famous while their own real life situations edge closer and closer toward the sewer.

Who really knows for sure? The hippies of the 1960s cared very little about material wealth while the yuppies of the 1980s, apparently, care little about anything else. For all we know, (Illinois Sen.) Paul Simon might stand for a merging of these two views. Maybe, there is a new group arising in America? A group that cares about its own individual well-being, as well as the well-being of their neighbors, not to mention the country as a whole. In that case, then Matthews’ assessment of the situation would be all wrong.

RODERICK M. BOYES

Redondo Beach