To the editors:

Anthony Freinberg’s column (“Partisanship, Harvard-Style,” Oct. 18) really cheered me up. I wish he’d run for senator in my state, New York. Both Sen. Charles E. Schumer and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, even though neither of them is running for office this year, displayed an amazing gutlessness when it came time to vote on the resolution transfering the Senate’s Constitution-given powers to declare war to the most ignorant and arrogant president we’ve seen in a while. Neither of them was really anywhere to be seen while more courageous senators (on both sides of the question and both sides of the aisle) aired their views in public.

The idea that this caginess descends even to the level of college political groups is depressing, and I thank Freinberg for airing the matter. Yes, electing candidates from your party is important (especially for those of us who worry about Republican control of the whole schmear and the impact this might have on the future Supreme Court). But standing for something—learning about an issue and then putting yourself on the line for it—is even more important. Think of Jeffords, who became an independent, and my new idol, Republican Sen. Lincoln Chaffee of Rhode Island, who voted against both Bush’s tax cut and giving Bush his new war powers. Guys like these will get my vote any day, no matter what party label they come under.

As will journalists like Freinberg who take both parties to task for their lack of substance.

Andree Pages ’77

Oct. 18, 2002