A Note to Anna - The following is the text of an e-mail sent to Newsweek. (We'll see if it ever gets printed.)

To Whom It May Concern:

In regards to Anna Quindlen's piece in the May 28, 2007 issue of Newsweek, it occurs to me that Ms. Quindlen misses the essential appeal of George W. Bush. Whatever we may think of his intellect or personal gravitas, Mr. Bush strikes most Americans as a man who is comfortable with himself. He likes, or at least appreciates whom he has become as a person, and sees little need to change either himself or his beliefs in order to be popular. This in and of itself lends him an air of trustworthiness. What Ms. Quindlen derides as the demeanor of a "Dude Prez" resonates with many of us metaphorically as Mr. Bush being someone that we would trust when we are being our authentic selves, even as he always seems to be presenting his authentic self; it is akin to a sense of wanting him "in our foxhole."

Contrast Bush's apparent resoluteness with the lack thereof demonstrated by a Hillary Clinton whose "authenticity seems to have fallen by the wayside." Ms. Clinton - like John Kerry and Al Gore before her - seems to want to be "perfect" as opposed to authentic. The central problem with most Democratic presidential candidates is that they feel compelled to be all things to all people. Rather than merely "being for it before they were against it," Ms. Clinton and her ilk want to be for it and against it simultaneously. (Witness her quarter-turns and half-flips on her Iraq War vote.)

As long as Democrats are uncomfortable plainly articulating what they believe and what they dispute irrespective of what special interest group or hastily-cobbled coalition they may offend, they will be handing Republicans a mandate to lead for many years to come.

As always, I am,

Walter Grandberry