To the editor:

The most important issue of this campaign is not Iraq, or terrorism, or 35-year-old military service records. Congress and the presidents of both parties have made mistakes that contributed to the horrible attack on 9-11 and the unfortunate decision to go to war in Iraq. Neither party is without blood on its hands. One would have hoped that after Vietnam we would not get involved in a conflict without a clear-cut exit strategy. We did. The fight against terrorism and Iraq needs a bipartisan solution, not political slogans and mindless rhetoric.

The real issue is the economy and the downsizing of the middle class. Rising health care costs, lower paychecks, higher food and fuel costs and fewer good-paying jobs all have contributed to the decline of the middle class. The tax cuts of yesterday have been wiped out for those Americans who have lost their health insurance or seen their job migrate overseas.

If you kill the middle class, Mr. President, you will kill the economy and the glue that holds this society together. That is more frightening to me than any terrorist or foreign conflict. To both parties, Americans are tired of the Marie Antoinette treatment that we get every four years of being told to eat cake and watch the presidential circus. We want a real meat and potatoes discussion that results in real solutions to serious economic problems.

Pat Pritchard,

Lawrence