Party, not Sen. Clinton, should be the priority

Re “Triangulating her way over the cliff,” Opinion, June 29

Arianna Huffington shows again why Democrats just don’t get it. She laments Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s wishy-washy antiwar stance when she should be touting a candidate who actually has principles. Clinton puts her finger in the wind to find her beliefs.

Until Democrats have a candidate with principles who is not just a far-left demagogue, they will lose elections.

BILL FALLON

Newport Beach

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Huffington accurately diagnoses the ills of the Democratic Party by stating that “Democrats need to draw sharp distinctions between themselves and the GOP.” The remedy she prescribed is what is lacking in potency. Letting Iraq be the dominant issue will play into the hands of the GOP.

The Democratic platform should be built on the fundamentals of energy efficiency and independence. This means a Manhattan Project-scale program that will bolster new economies and reinvigorate our nation.

For the GOP to argue against fuel alternatives and to deny the U.S. the benchmark position in the future of technology and energy would be political suicide. Our national security depends on, and is directly related to, our dependence on foreign oil.

The American people are making waves about this issue, and all the Democrats have to do is ride them in.

MARK E. CASIAS

Placentia

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Enough already! I’m being strangulated by triangulation. Who invented this silly word? And why has compromise become a sign of weakness?

In a society of divergent views, the best one can, and perhaps should, hope for is that we find common ground with those who do not see the world as we do. That’s not triangulation, it’s common sense. So now Clinton is pilloried for trying to find common ground, for trying to compromise? Let’s box everyone in, shall we?

JOSH BRAND

Los Angeles