KAUSHIK ♥ KERRY
TO THE EDITOR: Sandeep Kaushik's May 20 writing ("Left Wing-Man") presents a misleading picture of both the Portland rally and public opinion on the presidential candidates today. Covering the rally, Kaushik paints a portrait of a huge, energized event in Portland, but Kaushik fails to note the underlying truth: Kerry's rallies in the progressive Northwest, well into the general campaign season, are producing less public turnout than Dean's rallies in the primary season, even with both Kerry and Dean onstage. Even trotting out Howard Dean and a rock band (Everclear), Kerry, famously resembling a mortician, fails to inspire. Living on Capitol Hill, all I have to do is take a walk and witness that 48 Howard Dean campaign placards in my various neighbors' windows have been replaced by 5 John Kerry placards. There is a visible lack of energy in the political environment since Kerry took the party's nomination, and Kaushik's giddy coverage of the Kerry campaign cannot conceal this.

Kaushik also seems to be completely out of touch with Ralph Nader's public standing these days: Perhaps Kaushik hasn't noticed that, as of May 19, CNN, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and all the rest were covering a meeting between Nader and Kerry which Kerry organized with Nader, even as the latest NYT/CBS poll announces Nader's popularity figure went up another point. Ever since Kerry took the most cowardly position imaginable ("stay the course") on the Iraq war, despite the fact that over half the American population, without any help at all from political campaigns or widespread propaganda, has come to favor the withdrawal of our troops from Iraq, Kerry has managed to gain no ground in opinion polls and has little recognition from voters--despite a historic flameout on the part of his major opponent in Iraq. Concurrently, Nader's standing in the polls is steadily rising. Hardly "twisting in the wind," Nader's candidacy for the first time is being taken very seriously by all the various pundits of the so-called "left" and by the Kerry campaign as well. The Kerry campaign and related Democrats are threatening to actually spend media money to attack Ralph Nader, the only progressive, anti-war candidate in the race, even as progressives are beginning to recognize that Kerry is genuinely doing little to differentiate himself from Bush.

It's fine for Kaushik to support John Kerry fervently, though it is really difficult to imagine what sort of progressive agenda he thinks he is pursuing in this effort. Kerry favors corporate tax cuts, escalation of the Iraq war with more troops, radical corporatist trade policies, and he embraces the bigot lobby by opposing gay marriage. It would be really great if Kaushik would at least try to convey an accurate picture of the campaign rather than just giddy, hyped-up coverage of John Kerry.

Cliff Frensley

COP ♥ MUDEDE
TO CHARLES MUDEDE: I wanted to thank you for your complimentary articles regarding the Seattle police officers listed in Police Beat. As a police officer myself, I can honestly say I do my very best to do the right thing all the time. We only hear about our work when we f*** up and never when we do a good job, which is 99 percent of the time.

To see something positive written about our hard-working and under-appreciated officers makes my day! Because of this, I will continue to read The Stranger (which I have for years) and especially Police Beat (since I like to know what the hell is going on in my own Belltown neighborhood).

Thanks again and keep up your fabulous writing!

Angela Holland

ARIANE ♥ FRIZZELLE
TO CHRISTOPHER FRIZZELLE: I was waiting to see if you'd write about the new library, and I'm so glad you did. My first time visiting it was a couple days ago, and as I looked over the corner balcony ledge way, way up there and peered all the way down, I wondered how long it would be until the first jump. Thank you for putting words to the same things I was thinking.

Ariane Hjelle

gail ♥ feit
TO JOSH FEIT: Loved your article on Peter Steinbrueck ["The Steinbrueck Statement," May 27]. One detail you may have wrong--I don't think Mayor Greg Nickels has "the Democratic Party faithful" all sewn up.

Up in the North End, I know a lot of disaffected Dems who are open to a good challenger, and I speak as someone who's active in the 46th LD Dems and who has gotten to know the larger community as part of my work for Friends of Magnuson Park. There's a feeling that Greg Nickels ran for mayor as a neighborhood-friendly guy and then morphed into Emperor Greg without so much as a "By your leave."

Gail Chiarello

ANDREW ♥ POETS
DEAR EDITOR: Reading The Stranger is a regular part of my week. I know space is of a premium. There are a lot of talented writers and poets out there with opinions and perspectives relevant to today's world. Perhaps you could include space every week to publish a reader's poem. It could be about anything, but probably topical in some way.

Andrew Pederson

DAN SAVAGE RESPONDS: The Stranger does not knowingly publish poetry.