Atrocious claims about voters don't hold up against the facts

Editor,

I'm responding to the letter written by Marie Therese Hall in the Daily Lobo on Tuesday concerning the state of elections in this country and to the other claims made in her article. As someone who voted for Barack Obama for president and Tom Udall for Senate as well as being an undergraduate studying political science, I'm quite insulted by Hall's apparent assertion that the only reason that former Rep. Steve Pearce lost was because of drunks and stoners who know nothing about anything.

Even more outrageous, though, is Hall's claim that the vast majority of our spending is on "unconstitutional" projects (never mind that Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid, which make up nearly half of the federal budget, have been ruled as being perfectly constitutional already). Most interesting is that Hall apparently wants to start imposing limitations and cites our "forefathers" as an example. Of course what Hall doesn't explain is that the Founding Fathers' idea of the elite few who could vote was white, free, property-owning men. This in many ways is simply a reflection of the times, because if Hall would have done her research, she would know that the founders based the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the entire power of government around an idea originally proposed by John Locke - the idea that the only way a government has legitimacy is if those who are subject to its laws are allowed to have a say in the matter.

Hall's assertion about first-time voters doesn't really hold up to the facts derived from looking at the exit polls. Among those who were not first-time voters, Pearce won only 41 percent. In addition, among those who have college degrees, Pearce again won only 41 percent. Among those who have been to college, Pearce's support was at 39 percent.

Hall's work at voting precincts is to be commended, but her arrogant and insulting attitude about first-time voters is atrocious. And for the record, if we could survive eight years of the Bush Administration, then we can survive anything.

Elliot Kaufman

UNM student