Tom DeLay may want to paint nonvoters who had the wisdom to see through the thin veil of the Bush campaign as sinners, but, in fact, they were smart enough to see that his proposals were not much more than superficial campaign slogans.

Voters have overwhelmingly rejected referenda on vouchers, but Mr. Bush continues to push vouchers for poor children in "failing schools". He has never delineated poor children or failing schools criteria.

A majority of Americans believe in the Separation of Church and State but Mr. Bush proposes a plan to give taxpayers' money to sectarian agencies he sees as having successful social programs. He even exacerbated the situation by saying he would place a faith based office in the White House. This is like thumbing his nose at millions of Americans who oppose federal interference with religious bodies.

Mr. Bush proposed opening a wildlife preserve to further oil drilling because there is an energy supply crisis. This is opposed by many Americans who believe the real crisis is in usage not supply. Instead of proposing creative solutions to gas guzzlers and excessive uses of electricity by commercial entities, Mr. Bush's answer is to despoil one of the few remaining pristine areas of the country to the benefit of oil companies not the American people.

Want more examples? Consider the Star Wars revival, the John Ashcroft appointment, expensive testing proposals with no money to pay for the testing , etc., etc., etc.

No, Mr. DeLay, American voters who didn't vote for your fellow Texan aren't sinners. They are thinkers with honestly held convictions about religious liberty, the environment, public money for private schools, wasteful gadgets for the militaary, useless testing that proves nothing but how well a child takes a test, not what he has learned.

Martha Wood (electronic mail, May 15, 2001).