Arnold vs. Slick Willy?
JOHN J. DIIULIO JR.'S "Wooing Purple America" (Nov. 15) is anchored by the dual premises that our system should have more than one viable political party, and that cooperation between the parties should be encouraged.
Given the 2004 election results, may I suggest a project that would promote real bipartisan cooperation and allow both parties to nominate their strongest candidate for 2008? Let's pass a constitutional amendment that would modify the 22nd Amendment so that it simply limits a person to two consecutive terms as president, instead of two lifetime terms. (In other words, after sitting out at least one term, a person having served 2 terms could run again.)
But--and here's where the bipartisan part comes in--this amendment would also remove the constitutional prohibition on foreign-born persons becoming president.
This would clear the way for the Democratic party to run southern, red-state Bill Clinton again in 2008. (Hillary will not work as a substitute!) And the Republican party would be free to nominate its blue-state California "Governator."
Now wouldn't that be fun?
Mark Cassel
Overland Park, KS
The Wedding-Cake Man
DAVID GELERNTER writes, "Walter Winchell (or someone) is supposed to have called Dewey 'the little man on top of the wedding cake'" ("Truman Beats Dewey! Again!!" Nov. 15).
Actually, it was Alice Roosevelt Longworth, daughter of Teddy Roosevelt and wife of the great Republican Speaker of the House "Slick" Nick Longworth, who called Thomas Dewey the perfect little man atop a wedding cake.
Nicky Billou
Toronto, Ontario
Bush's Victory
WILLIAM KRISTOL'S editorial "Misunderestimated" (Nov. 15) hits the nail on the head. Kerry supporters and anti-Bush voters would do well to heed its message.
George W. Bush faced difficult challenges in both the domestic and international arenas. But he held to his policies, displayed strong leadership, and did not waver. Candidates with these characteristics typically generate better electoral outcomes than candidates without them.
Bush will face more challenges over the next four years. The tone of his acceptance speech reflected a desire for bipartisanship. Let's hope both sides appreciate the benefits of working together.
Ellis Tallman
Atlanta, GA
California's Hard Cell
REGARDING WESLEY J. SMITH'S "Suckers for 'Science'" (Nov. 15), the California stem-cell initiative passed largely because it was presented as an anti-Bush vote. This was the wrong reason for the right vote.
Embryonic stem-cell research is not about Alzheimer's Disease or Lazarus-like resurrections. It is just good, frontline science that unfortunately became a political talking point for scientifically ignorant partisans. The success of this initiative is a welcome sign for basic scientific research.
It is also investment capital for California, and will go far in helping the state's finances. All told, it is probably the political coup of the season.
Donald P. Speer
Ward Cove, AK
"Know-Nothing" Raines
HOW COULD THE SCRAPBOOK (Nov. 15) give Howell Raines a pass on his misuse of the facts? Raines wrote that George W. Bush was "a graduate of our second oldest university."
Last time I checked, the second oldest American university was William and Mary (even though it refers to itself as a "college"). Bush never said he graduated from there. His alma mater, Yale, is our third oldest university.
Bernie Heiler
Middleway, WV
Errata
BECAUSE OF an editing error in John J. DiIulio Jr.'s "Wooing Purple America" (Nov. 15), George W. Bush's margin of defeat in the 2000 popular vote was incorrectly stated as "more than 3.5 million votes." Bush actually lost the popular vote to Al Gore by just over 500,000 votes.
Also, one of our recent SCRAPBOOK items (Nov. 1 / Nov. 8) was perhaps unclear on the date of Canadian independence. With the passage of the British North America Act in 1867, Canada became a Dominion of the British Commonwealth. Through the 1931 Statute of Westminster, London granted all of its Dominions, including Canada, effective independence. But it was not until 1982, when Parliament passed the Canada Act, that Britain formally relinquished its power to make laws affecting Canada and the Canadian constitution.