Many voters switching to Kerry

To the editor:

Having been working in Missouri to canvass and register voters, I didn't notice Gene N. Isom's reply to my letter until today. Isom said Zell Miller is just one of thousands of Democrats who can no longer vote for Democratic candidates. In my work on behalf of the Kerry-Edwards campaign, I have met many people who say they voted for Bush in 2000 but will not vote for him this time. On the other hand, I have met no one who says he voted for Gore but will vote for Bush this time. A few of my co-workers have met some voters who were for Gore in 2000 but are switching to Bush, but they were few and far between compared to the number of former Bush supporters who are too angry now to vote for him.

Many prominent Republicans will not vote for Bush this time. John Eisenhower, the son of former president Dwight Eisenhower, says he will not vote for Bush. Bush's hometown newspaper in Crawford, Texas, published an editorial explaining why the paper could not support Bush this time.

Isom needs to wake up to the damage that Bush and his entourage of neocon chicken hawks are doing to our country. Informed people like John Eisenhower can see it. Why can't Isom? I remember seeing a T-shirt that said on the front, "If you aren't appalled, then you haven't been listening." That may be Isom's problem. He just hasn't been listening.

FARRELL TILL, Canton, Ill.