opinions

Mr. President, four years ago in your acceptance speech, you promised to serve the needs of all Americans, not just those who had voted for you. Of all the things you have done, the breaking of that pledge is the one that angers me most -- because you had no broad popular mandate for your policy.

There was a great deal of discussion about the popular vote and the electoral vote and the role Nader did or didn't play as a spoiler. I think much of that discussion overlooked an extremely important fact: The country was fundamentally divided. Whoever was declared victor was declared so by a majority that was statistically insignificant.

And yet you chose to behave as if you did have a strong mandate for your policies. You (and your party) inflicted grievous hurts on this nation, on her environment, on her children, on her economy, on her international standing, and on the rights, liberties, and health of her citizens. When this country was united briefly by a shocking attack, you and your party responded with a shameless opportunism that stuns me to this day.

Now history repeats itself. When the dust settles, regardless of the popular vote, regardless of the electoral vote, if you claim victory, you claim a slender victory.

And, Mr. President, like you, I believe in redemption. I believe people are capable of changing for the better.

And, again, you have a chance to act in the interests of all of our nation's citizens, not just those who voted for you.

You can opt for more of the same, and I suspect you will. With sickened heart, I expect a continuance of the cronyism that characterized your previous administration. I expect you to cloak policies that benefit the wealthy and powerful with a thin and hypocritical gloss of popularism.

But you could do things differently. You could select, as members of your second term cabinet, people whose views are not in complete concord with your own. You could choose advisors who would represent some of the citizenry that your election has disenfranchised. You could temper your agenda yourself, even without counsel to do so, but, Mr. President, I believe you would benefit greatly if you allowed yourself to hear more divergent opinions.

There is no particular political advantage to you in choosing this path. Our laws don't permit you to seek a third term. By doing as I suggest, you would alienate members of your party. You would incur enmity that might damage or restrict your future prospects.

But Mr. President, it is the right thing for you to do. You sought to lead this country. I beg of you now to have the courage to lead more than the half of it that chose you.