Distortions in the Democratic Primaries

Even though California has moved its primary to March, I agree with Ronald Brownstein (Washington Outlook, Feb. 9) that we are caught in the momentum of the earlier primaries and caucuses and have little knowledge or experience upon which to base our choice.

Yes, the candidates have been running for about a year, but that has worked against getting voters to pay attention, as their efforts were too distant. To give all votes equal weight and all candidates equal opportunity, the campaigns should start no earlier than January and all primaries/caucuses should be held on the same day in June. That would level the playing field and give the media less opportunity to anoint a victor before voters have had a chance to do so.

Linda Shahinian

Culver City

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Re “Shooting From the Hip, Dean Drew Fire,� Feb. 8: Even after asserting in December that Saddam Hussein’s capture made America no safer, Howard Dean was only 5 percentage points behind President Bush in a national poll by Time/CNN.

His downfall, instead, began post-Iowa. He was trying to be heard over the excited cries of his supporters, but the media conveniently removed the roar of the crowd and repeatedly played the modified version, mislabeling his passion as “anger� and his behavior “psychotic.� Nevertheless, discerning friends praised the speech if they saw it without the media analysis. The media controlling what we think? Big Brother in George Orwell’s “1984� is here, albeit 20 years late.

Kathy Keane

Long Beach

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I’m baffled by the reference to Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) as a “centrist� (Feb. 8). His voting record is as liberal as his mentor Sen. Ted Kennedy’s (D-Mass.). That doesn’t bother me -- but it bothers much of the rest of the country. The GOP’s $200-million-plus presidential war chest would stereotype Kerry as a “Massachusetts leftist.�

If Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), former Democratic South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges and Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) can agree that Wesley Clark can win in every region, we have a “once in many lifetimes� opportunity to elect a progressive general to the White House and defeat the most destructive presidential administration since Herbert Hoover. Clark has the stature to unwrap the American flag from George W. Bush.

Scott S. Smith

West Hollywood

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We are political advisor Karl Rove’s worst nightmare: conservative Republicans who are fed up with what President Bush has done with respect to expanding Medicare, adding a new department (Homeland Security), bloating the budget beyond comprehension, inflating the deficit so our grandchildren will be paying for exploration to Mars, offering an amnesty program for illegal aliens that is a nightmare for every honest and law-abiding Californian ... and we are not voting this November.

We certainly would never vote for Kerry, but at the same time we resent how Bush has done so much to counter core Republican principles. We respect the importance of our vote too much to cast it for ideals that are so contrary to everything we hold dear.

Bud Grantin

Jeannette Grantin

Laguna Hills