Advice for the Democrats

Re “Dems shouldn’t be playing it safe,” Opinion, April 28

Three points in response to Mario Cuomo’s articulate plea for more details from Democratic presidential candidates:

* A modern campaign absolutely must be cautious and speak in generalities. Every utterance, every vocabulary choice, every turn of phrase is a potential landmine should someone in the media, the blogosphere or talk radio succeed in turning it into a seeming faux pas.

* All of us have at one time or another voted for a candidate’s concrete plan to do this or that about some pressing problem -- only to have the candidate, once elected, do something completely different. We’re looking for character, not specifics.

* Any of the Democratic candidates currently before us would provide such an enormous improvement over the administration we now suffer under, it really doesn’t matter which of them wins.

JIM HOUGHTON

Encino

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As a Democrat, I have taken to sending into the trash, unopened, all solicitations from Democratic presidential candidates, and Cuomo has described the reasons eloquently. When I hear fewer sound bites and more specifics about fixing a dysfunctional government, I’ll start opening the mail -- and my wallet. This Congress has accomplished some good things in its first months, but the issues Cuomo identified are seminal and deserve thoughtful, honest answers from those running for the most powerful office in the world. Consultants and spin doctors, with their cynical view of the electorate, tell their clients to play their cards close to their chests, lest they fall into third place like Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who stubbornly offers an unpopular point of view. I can’t vote for McCain, but I respect his willingness to take the less traveled road.

JACK DRAKE

Redondo Beach