George,

About the campaign and the loss of a seat. "Lack of excitement" about the city council campaign has been blamed in a couple of letters, I believe, for Alex's loss.

There's a fascinating article by Joe Klein in this week's New Yorker about the Democrat in SC running for Strom Thurmond's seat. From the article: "The real contest here is between an American archetype... and the consultant-driven sterility of the current political system." There's a discussion of these consultants, and Alex Sanders, the candidate, says of their "message box" methods: "If that's the campaign I'm supposed to run, I think I'll die. I will surely bore myself to death."

Are we boring voters to death with market-researched campaigns? Oughtn't candidates to win or lose on the strength of who they are and what they believe? I fear that Democrats' tendency to play it safe to appease conservative voters is not necessarily the wisest course. The safe is rarely exciting. Perhaps Schilling's real strength was to be himself. No doubt he had advisors telling him to cut his hair. Evidently he ignored this advice.

Valerie L'Herrou (electronic mail, May 14, 2002)