LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: THIRD-PARTY VOTERS COULD HAVE IMPACT

To the editor:

I read with great interest Marvin McMillan's Sept. 17 letter. He hit the nail on the head. He said the best way to stop the import deluge is to get rid of the politicians who support them. Let's do it.

James Nall had a superb letter Sept. 19 in which he talked about the Republicans' not being a strong opposition to the Democrats anymore. Well, they have lost their way. Let's do it.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate passed permanent normal trade relations with Communist China. Bill Clinton will sign it. The leadership of both parties and most of the members of both parties are thrilled as if we don't have enough Chinese goods on the shelves of our stores. Let's do it.

If you believe the polls, almost 70 percent of the American people want Pat Buchanan and Ralph Nader in the debates. The debate commission says they can't participate unless they have 15 percent in the polls. They are only pulling 1 percent to 6 percent. I think the American people should rule. Let's do it.

The brainwashing fix is in, folks. Ralph and Pat and Harry have zero chance of winning. How do they know before a single vote is cast? These third-party candidates have the best ideas. They are talking about rotten trade deals. But you can't hear them unless you look real hard. The talking heads are trying to convince you that you would waste your vote or that you would cause either Bush or Gore to lose. I trust that American voters are too smart to fall for this garbage.

If we would all go to the polls in November and voted for third-party candidates Libertarian, Reform or Green as a collective group we could blow their doors off. We could beat Bush and Gore and Holden and Talent. This would leave the Democrats and Republicans and the wretched news media stunned with their lower jaw touching the floor.

Let's do it for our children.

CAROL M. WILKINSON

Cape Girardeau