SUPER TUESDAY

Rebirth of democracy

On Feb. 5, 2008, I went to my caucus and saw America at work, trying to salvage its future.

The urgent press for change was palpable -- a new sense of consensus, an eager expectation of revival of the importance of the voter. There were more African-Americans than ever, a Chinese couple trailed by two offspring, many disabled seniors, wide-eyed young voters, Latinos galore and people helping people everywhere.

Our usual attendance has been around 100, but on that very special night, more than 400 registered. I went to bed with a happy heart.

MARY LOU NELSON, MINNEAPOLIS

Out of town, out of luck I absolutely agree with your Feb. 6 editorial proposing a Minnesota primary to replace the current caucus system, but you missed one important point. In addition to the longer voting hours which help second-shift workers, parents with small children and those wanting to watch "House," primaries allow for absentee voting.

My husband was disenfranchised this year because he had to be on a business trip out of state. My daughter was disenfranchised because she is in college out of state. This is the first election either has missed since they became eligible to vote.

If Minnesota wants to continue being rightly proud of its voter turnout, it needs to fix this problem. Motivated voters should never face a roadblock.

MARYLOU DOMINO, HOPKINS

Chaos at work Tonight many Minnesota politicos are saying "Democracy works!" I live in an area of St. Paul that is known for its voter turnout in every election. What I experienced Tuesday night was another presidential election-year chaotic caucus.

Inside people were boasting how many people voted. My question is how many people left when they saw the lines outside the junior high? How many stayed in the cramped hallways when they saw too many people, too crowded a space, too long a wait to register to cast a straw vote?

As a Minnesotan I was already feeling disenfranchised that my candidate was already out of the race. If we had a primary maybe more citizens may have been counted.

CYNTHIA FOSTER, ST. PAUL

D stands for disorder On Super Tuesday, I didn't attend a caucus of an organized political party. I went to my DFL caucus.

CARL ERIC JOHNSON, MINNEAPOLIS

Post-it note voting Why didn't the Democratic Party hold this year's caucuses in the neighborhood precincts like they did in 2004? They needed just as many people to help organize the combined precincts, and the traffic at the event was a logistics nightmare.

I had to park several blocks away from Harding High School in St. Paul, and when I finally worked my way through the crowd to the room where my precinct met, they had no blank sign-in sheets and no ballots. I ended up voting on a Post-it note. Is this even legal? Please consider holding the 2012 elections in the neighborhoods where they belong.

LUCILLE DECOUX, ST. PAUL

Poor planning When I received a call Monday from Barack Obama's campaign telling me that my caucus site was the Bryant Lake Bowl, I figured it could be a Republican trick since we always caucus at Jefferson School. Imagine my surprise to learn that the precinct-finder (not an easy thing to find from the dfl.org website) confirmed that this bowling alley/breakfast place was the correct place to caucus.

Because of the hundreds of people who showed up to caucus, many lost their chance to participate in the full process after standing in the cold for an hour and a half only to be offered the chance to vote on a post-it note.

Ironically, I heard that the Republican caucus was held in Jefferson School, a cavernous building. Whose idea was it to hold a DFL caucus for a neighborhood that is largely DFL in a bowling alley that could hold 100 people?

JENNETTE LEE, MINNEAPOLIS

A message for Tim Tim Pawlenty worked hard for the liberal John McCain in Minnesota, almost as hard as he has to promote that other liberal fantasy of "man-made global warming" lately. Maybe the record-breaking frigid temperatures across the nation lately will arouse our leftward-leaning governor from that humid slumber.

If not, what's left of his conservative base sent him another ringing wake-up call last night (Romney wins Minnesota Republican caucus) to dig his heels in on Minnesota's slippery slope of liberalism, and struggle to claw his way back up to those lofty Republican ideals he was elected on way back when.

If not ... Brian Sullivan, we're sorry! Please try again!

GARY BRUDELIE, MINNEAPOLIS

The big guns jammed? Though Super Tuesday didn't give decisive victories to either Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama, it was interesting that the big guns that amassed against Clinton in Massachusetts and California apparently failed. Or maybe the voters felt that such inundation by those moneyed individuals went over some line. Whatever it is, it's nice now to hear the gnashing of privileged teeth.

JERALD LEE, MINNEAPOLIS

SAFE HAVEN

A mother's loving act

I wanted to write to the mother of the three-day-old infant who was dropped off at Children's Hospital on Sunday (Star Tribune, Feb. 5).

Whoever you are, your act was one of the finest ideals of motherhood itself. You ensured your baby will have a safe, healthy life.

I cannot imagine how hard your last few months have been, but I do know your act was based on love, and I think you now have an opportunity to create a fulfilling life for yourself as well.

SHEILA WILLIAMS-METZ, ROSEVILLE

Subs in the classroom

Check on licenses

The Feb. 3 article implying that too many substitutes contribute to lower test scores was offensive ("With teacher away, is it a useful day?").

I have taught school for 26 years, about seven of which were as a substitute. Certainly a substitute working 10 days of a calendar year of approximately 165 days cannot bring down scores significantly.

There are full-time teachers out there who lack critical skills in spelling, writing and mathematics -- I have worked with some who cannot write a grammatically correct sentence or do basic math problems as asked on standardized tests.

In addition, more and more students today have learning and emotional problems, which brings down scores. Few students are eligible for alternative tests.

If substitutes are hired for an extended period of time they should have the same licensure as the teacher they are filling in for. Testing for all licenses should be stricter. All elementary teachers should have to pass an essay test and a basic skills math test, and if such tests do exist, perhaps they are not hard enough.

EMILIE PEDERSON, MENOMONIE, WIS.