Considering the Prospect of a Kerry-McCain Ticket

Re “Kerry Keeps Recruiting, McCain Keeps Resisting,” June 12: I was heartened to hear that John McCain is not considering joining John Kerry’s ticket, because if he did, I’d have to vote Peace and Freedom this year. In the same way I won’t give Ralph Nader my vote, I would never vote for a ticket with McCain on it, regardless of any attempt at bipartisanship by my own party. To think that Kerry would sell us out so easily (I cannot forget that McCain is pro-life, a war hawk, a great supporter of NAFTA and the ills it brings us) to pull a few Republicans over to his side is disheartening.

Kerry was never my first choice. Throwing his ribbons away showed backbone; sidling up to Republicans so far away from core Democrats and their beliefs makes me wonder where that backbone is now.

Denise Clary-Wilson

Culver City

McCain’s acceptance of the vice president position would amount to a modern-day Boston Tea Party. Do you really think the founding fathers would accept the current state of affairs in Washington? What made the Boston Tea Party such a seminal event was the sheer audacity of shaking up the establishment. Can you really see someone like Vice President Dick Cheney, Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft or George W. Bush taking part in dumping tea into Boston Harbor?

McCain should throw caution to the wind this summer and accept the request by Kerry. Americans long for a government that moves away from this terrible divide that afflicts the nation.

Chris Yang

Rancho Palos Verdes

It seems a bit early to display desperation, but Kerry’s continued attempts to have McCain on the ticket certainly can’t be interpreted as a sign of strength in his run for the presidency. Could it be that Kerry’s campaign to take the country back for Michael Moore isn’t selling so well in some Middle American swing states?

Bill McClure

South Pasadena

Re “Kerry Invokes Reagan’s Name in Stem-Cell Plea,” June, 13: Kerry, a person who stands as an opponent of Ronald Reagan in every sense, solemnly invokes Reagan’s name in support of something Reagan obviously would oppose if he were still alive. Reagan valued individual rights over group rights, opposed the abortion industry, viewed embryos as individuals and would never have stood for having any of those individuals owned by a drug company and turned into a factory so he could live. Finally, he would never compromise on things he held as principles just to obtain a bit of popularity.

Douglas Campbell

Culver City