There are three messages we can learn from John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate. 

Since listening to Sarah Palin’s speech at the Repub-lican Convention, I’ve been bothered — but unable to put into words what it was I found so disturbing.

We were visiting Charlottesville over the Labor Day weekend. I was crossing a sidewalk to the Farmers Market when I tripped on an uneven curb and did a nosedive into the street.

On behalf of the children and teachers of Congregation Beth Israel Preschool, I wanted to offer a special thank you

I have been voting for more than 40 years, but this is the election of my lifetime.

Ever since the collapse of Athenian democracy following the Peloponnesian War, tyrants have scorned democracy and sneered contemptuously at the people “You can’t handle freedom.”

Simple folk know that Hormel, the food-processing biggie, offers a line of canned chili, some varieties of which are composed of spicy beans, but no meat. Isn’t that an apt description of Sarah Palin’s address to the Republican convention?

As I read one of the letters on Sept. 3, “McCain’s choice of VP troubling” (The Daily Progress), I thought, “What the heck does having a fifth child, one who has a developmental disability, have to do with how Gov. Sarah Palin can lead us as vice president or president?”

The presidential campaign has been filled with claims and counterclaims about “experience”: who’s got it, and who hasn’t.

I read with interest the opinions of the University of Virginia professors Paul Freedman and Lynn Sanders that characterizes John McCain’s choice of a running mate as “brilliant”

At the Republican National Convention, an initial event was video speeches by Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Alabama Gov. Bob Riley.

I don’t generally watch Republican conventions, so someone will have to tell me: Are they always that mean-spirited? 

Having been a fan of University of Virginia athletics for as long as I can remember, this is probably the first time I have come this close to being ashamed to be a Cavalier fan.

Congressman Virgil Goode’s statement that Tom Perriello lacks experience to represent the Fifth District is ludicrous. Perriello was in Sierra Leone during the “blood diamond” civil war and worked to forge a lasting peace treaty. He did this by working on the ground with various tribes with different backgrounds. 

John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin was certainly inspired … politically inspired. The Republican Party has a history of choosing vice presidential candidates for political expediency without concern that the candidate is “a heartbeat away from the presidency.” (Remember Dan Quayle, Spiro Agnew?) And the “heart,” in this case, is 72 years old!

Some people have raised the issue of experience and believe that Gov. Sarah Palin doesn’t have it and that Sen. Barack Obama does. 

While there appears to be general agreement that the country is heading in the wrong direction, the political primary results have shown that the campaigns are less influenced by main issues than by a wide range of unqualified public opinion based on traditional prejudice and emotional considerations.

When I sat down to listen to convention speeches on the evening of Sept. 3, I expected to disagree with many of the observations about America’s problems, and potential answers to them, offered by former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani and Gov. Sarah Palin. 

Senators Barack Obama and John McCain sent letters encouraging me to sign on to their presidential campaigns and to send money to promote their candidacies. I must respectfully decline their offers.

This spring and summer Albemarle County’s entrance corridors have been assaulted with a proliferation of illegal commercial signs, which greatly harm our community’s aesthetic appeal.

I write to clarify my comments in The Daily Progress Aug. 30 story about the choice of Sarah Palin as Republican vice-presidential nominee (“UVa politicos call selection ‘brilliant’ ”). 

At age 77, I have voted for many presidential candidates, and Barack Obama offers me hope like no other candidate ever has. 

“The grades are in and the schools in Albemarle County and Charlottesville have failed,” says the NBC 29 news anchor on Aug. 27 and 28.

It was fascinating to watch Barack Obama stand in front of thousands of Americans, and millions more TV viewers, and insult most of them.

As a strong conservative, I was somewhat disappointed at the Republicans’ nomination of John McCain.

I watched with interest Mark Warner’s speech at the Democratic National Convention.

The Russian bear is on the march again — invading Georgia and refusing to repair the damage caused, and also refusing to leave.

I am writing to take issue with a letter published on Aug. 11 headlined “Obama promotes class warfare.”

It’s obvious why John McCai’s choice of a running mate was made — to attempt to win some undecided supporters of Hillary Clinton.

I refer to the letter “War hero hopeful worthy of votes” in the Daily Progress of Aug. 26.