Republicans are more meanspirited

One of the clear differences between Democrats and Republicans was exemplified by the two national conventions — meanspiritedness.

With little positive record to run on, all the Republicans could do was attack. The speeches by the vice-president, traditionally playing the role of campaign attack dog, and Zell Miller, a faux Democrat, were full of vitriol, hyperbole and even lies. Miller's rant was presented to the Republican National Committee three weeks before the convention. If they were troubled by it they apparently didn't dial him back. Miller reminds me of Ross Perot's "crazy old aunt in the attic."

In any event, Miller's keynote speech has been pretty much ignored since it was delivered, as has Mr. Miller. He was scheduled for some Bush campaign events after the convention, but no one has seen him. Not so with the Democratic keynoter, Barach Obama. He has been recognized as a leader of the future.

The consistency and national appeal of Republican meanness was on display at the Kootenai County Fair where the Republican booth handed out bumper stickers identifying John Kerry with the Ku Klux Klan. The KKK allusion not only does a disservice to the party, some of whose members don't seem to know any better, but also reinforces an image of Idaho that many of us have been trying to dispel.

I can say with some pride that the Bonner County Republican fair booth operated on a much higher plain than their brethren to the south.

BARBARA WYNHAUSEN

Sandpoint