To the editor:

Four years ago, President Bush promised to be a uniter, not a divider. He was characterized as a “compassionate conservative.” After 9-11 he seemed to have the nation and most of the world behind him. What has happened since then?

I’m nearly 80, but I’ve never seen our nation more deeply, more bitterly, and more evenly divided than now. Much of the world seems to hate us also. Our efforts to fight the Taliban and Osama bin Laden have been detoured to the quagmire called Iraq. It has cost us dearly in the lives of thousands of dead and wounded with no end in sight.

Both major parties seem to be trying to outdo each other with vitriolic attacks and a meanness which is as disgusting as I’ve ever seen in previous campaigns. Those who dare to disagree with Bush are smeared as unpatriotic, indecisive or flip-floppers. Democrats accuse Bush of lying, either knowingly or unknowingly, a man too arrogant to admit even obvious mistakes and never willing to apologize for anything.

Despite the overheated rhetoric, I hope voters will be able to make a wise decision on Election Day. More now than four years ago, America and the world desperately need a leader who can become a uniter, not a divider, one who can give us new hope and new courage for the dangerous years ahead.

Harold Piehler,

Lawrence