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Letters to the Editor

We welcome your opinions and letters – with name and address. We will edit when necessary. Include your name, address and phone number for verification. Mail them to Bay Weekly, P.O. Box 358, Deale, MD 20751 • E-mail them to [email protected]. or submit your letters on line, click here

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Right Story; Wrong Cover

Dear Bay Weekly:

I would like to register a complaint about the front-page picture in the issue of June 29 [Vol. xxiv, No. 26]. There is no reason that the bust of a woman needs to be on the front and center of your newspaper advertising an article on summer reading. This is a free magazine placed in any number of places in Southern Maryland, often at the eye level of children. It was the first thing that my eight-year-old son and his friend saw as we walked into Tastee Freeze in North Beach this afternoon, and it prompted a lengthy discussion about girls and bikinis.

That is not a conversation that I really think is appropriate for youngsters. If the topic comes up with children that age, it should not be because of the pictures on the front page of a local weekly publication!  Frankly, I expect more responsibility out of local newspapers, and I am sure that you could have come up with a different front-page picture for your article titled Bay Weekly’s Annual Summer Reading Companion. The article is great; the front-page visuals are not!

—Debbie Shupe, Chesapeake Beach

More Elephant Talk

Dear Bay Weekly:

Scott W. Reed’s letter regarding the Anne Arundel County executive race [Vol. xiv, No. 25: June 22] shows an interesting lack of understanding of current political realities.

As a professional political operative and Washington lobbyist, Mr. Reed undoubtedly understands the volatility of professional polling. As Mr. Reed says, polling is a snapshot. However, the individual paying for the poll oftentimes pays for a portrait, seeing the world as they wish to see it. Certain types of polling, such as “push-polling,” can be constructed in a way to get whatever result you want. Clearly, Mr. Reed and Del. Leopold’s campaign wish to see the political landscape through rose-colored glasses.

Additionally, Mr. Reed’s assertion about Del. Leopold leading his ticket in 2002 is superfluous. 2002, as we all know, was also a big Republican year in Anne Arundel County. Comparing the margin of victory between any two candidates in two completely separate legislative districts four years apart after a major redistricting is like comparing apples and car batteries.

If Del. Leopold were in as good of shape as Mr. Reed implies, then he would have already filed to run for county executive; something that as of June 22 he has not done. However, Mr. Reed’s lack of professional understanding gives a clear picture as to the root cause of the strategic and operational shortcomings of Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign, of which Mr. Reed was the campaign manager.

—Brian C. Griffiths, Pasadena

Editor’s note: Mr. Griffiths is a long-standing supporter of candidate Phil Bissett.