Letter of the Day (Jan. 27): Elected leaders

January 27, 2012 at 3:42AM
A man exits after voting in Tuesday's primary election at the Wilson School, a polling place in Arlington, Va.
A man exits after voting in Tuesday's primary election at the Wilson School, a polling place in Arlington, Va. (Stan Schmidt — Getty/AFP/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Amid the fervor of yet another political campaign, some of us remain hopeful for candidates from either party who will match our expectations. Who most of all are not so doctrinaire.

We have Republican, Democratic and independent friends, and we see none of them as evil people. Our hope is that one day we will be faced with a slate of candidates who are decent, trustworthy, evenhanded, proactive and wise.

We care more about noble attributes of wisdom and character than we do about precisely where candidates fit on the political spectrum. What the country needs now is teamwork, wisdom and practicality.

Beliefs are important, but so is the imperative to get something done. Our country has an anemic economy, massive unresolved social problems, a substandard education system and external challenges from emerging powers -- all within the framework of huge unsustainable debts.

It is not realistic for either of our two major parties to claim that they did not contribute to the mess we are in.

Enough of the squabbling. Now is the time for us to elect good leaders. I just hope that one party or another will nominate some.

FREDERICK M. ZIMMERMAN, MINNETONKA

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