I am writing in response to Nathan Calverley’s letter Difference between political bickering, intelligent debating (SN 11/27). I would certainly agree there exists a certain degeneration of politics in our world today: Mudslinging and swift-boat tactics become very irritating when trying to debate what really matters. However, I think that such actions serve to spark the attention and interests of the public.

Consider myself for example. I voted for President Bush and I am a Republican through and through. Upon finishing this piece, I thought I would do a little research into our competition. I was surprised to find that one Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, had voted to authorize the Iraq War Resolution and has recently made a similar vote in support of the Kyl-Lieberman amendment, which labels the Iranian army as a terrorist organization and supports military actions against Iran. So, Mr. Calverley, while you satirically suggest keeping Bush in office, I would argue that we have candidates, even a Democratic one, who are willing to step into his shoes.