necessary or to have others act cruelly toward the

necessary or to have others act cruelly toward the competitor in their place.

Even though seasoned campaign managers advise that these tactics work very well, common sense tells me that if they aren’t what we wish for our children, they are ill-advised for grown-ups.

Jay Katzen and Sue Scheer are siblings in the same family — the family of our country. This “family” is doing the bitter, difficult work of self-government. The United States is the first country in 40,000 years of human history that has had a vision of “liberty and justice for all,” regardless of race, creed, color or class. This new and awesome mission defies all previous forms of rule with its belief in the importance of each individual. Our democracy is messy and imperfect. We have a long way to go, but we may never get there, because we are drowning in a sea of negativity.

Every time I see candidate-forsheriff Gary Settle’s beafttiful signs of the Rappahannock map, a sun, “Towards a better tomorrow” and “Dedication, loyalty and pride,” 1 get more loyalty, dedication and pride in the place where I live. I am strengthened by the ideas in his campaign, which are at nobody’s expense.

I hope Sue Scheer and Jay Katzen continue to put forth their ideas of what is good and how they want the region to be, as they both have. The differences in their visions are usefiil food for thought. Campaigning,is a tough, grueling, expensive task and 1 thank them both for undertaking it. ,

There are a few weeks left of the race for delegate, where strategies have been planned for months. Every time Sue Scheer and Jay Katzen choose to address an issue’s complexity and pain and come up with ere1 ative solutions, our society will be in better shape, no matter who wins. Every time a choice is made to* tear apart someone else, Democrat or Republican, in order to reach a goal, our fragile democracy will continue to be strangled by “politics as usual.” ;

The children are watching.

LAURIE MARSHALL

Washington