Of all the crazy ways to choose a candidate to support, this is perhaps the most inane yet. In today's edition of the Potomac News, a local newspaper serving Northern Virginia, Sandi Teets took some time to examine what surely will become the most important focal point in the upcoming Presidential election - the origins of a name.

That's right, folks. Forget about the war, economy, or even health care for that matter, since as Ms. Teets points out, the names of the two respective Presidential candidates tell more about them than any policy  position or voting record ever could.

Thankfully for all of us, Ms. Teets did the extensive work necessary, "it took me about a week to get to the root origins of each name and I did my research", and submitted her discoveries in a now Potomac News published Letter To The Editor. Her findings, you ask?

I have reached the absolute end.

I was open to the idea of Mrs. Clinton having all the room in the world to make a graceful exit from the stage but after her comments today, I am finished.

I always understood the idea behind Super Delegates was to have a method in place meant to keep the Democratic Party from damaging itself, from self destructing. From where I stand, this protracted and ugly fight is damaging us and continues to do so.

It is now clear Hillary Clinton has no legitimate path to the Democratic nomination and moreover, it appears that from here on out, it is her intention to make sure the presumed nominee is so beat up as to make the uniting of the party as difficult and unlikely as possible.

So tonight I wrote a letter to my Senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell. They are both Hillary Clinton supporters and Super Delegates, and I made my feelings known regarding this continuing debacle.

Here's a letter-to-the-editor that will be printed in my local paper here in North Carolina. Permission is hereby granted to plagiarize any part or all of it in your letters to your hometown papers.

I suspect that many Kossacks out there are also Deaniacs from way back in 2004 (sigh).  One of the hallmarks of Howard Dean's revolutionary campaign was writing personal letters to voters in Iowa and New Hampshire.  To my knowledge, this had never been done before.

With Obama's on-line supporters now numbering in excess of one million, it would only take each one of us writing fewer than 10 letters each before every eligible voter in PA had a heartfelt, passionate letter from a real person in their mailbox.  If we can win on April 22 in PA, this race will come to an abrupt end.  A successful letter writing campaign can close the gap for Obama in PA.

For those that have a particular love of printed media, letters to the editor are an important part of the ground game for Barack Obama, particularly once the campaign focus has shifted away from our home states. Being a Californian, it is no longer a priority for me to submit letters to papers such as the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Jose Mercury.

Now I'm shifting focus to Pennsylvanian metropolitan newspapers. I hope that Kossacks here that are active in the Obama campaign (or want to be) will help get letters supporting Obama's candidacy and dispelling rumors and inaccuracies published in large papers in the state.

UPDATE: Added newspaper information provided by commenters. Let's make this a reference most epic!

Onwards to the information!

Stars & Stripes letters published after General Sanchez' speech calling out Bush for a "catastrophically flawed" war plan are below, to include links to letters beating Sanchez to the punch by some four years.

Sanchez cited Stars & Stripes itself for "extreme bias."  The  ombudsman responded with an editorial defending the paper.

Some might say it's fitting that on Halloween the subject of Ann Coulter be revisited.  It is, in No 'warm and fuzzies' here, written by a Maj. stationed in Iraq:

One thing I would like to see less of in Stars and Stripes is the column of Ann Coulter, not because she’s conservative, but because she writes at the top of her lungs, like a skanky teenager who is ridiculed by the boys for being flat-chested. And ugly. Sarcasm became her coping mechanism. Her column must cost next to nothing to carry. Why not try carrying George Will or someone like that more often? He’s a verbose blowhard, but at least he can write.

I send jokes and other humorous things out to a wide range of people of all political stripes. I send nothing out political, but receive the occasional right-wing rant.

Here's an example of one I received today. Look below the fold to see what the right-wingers email to each other.

   

Stars & Stripes letters' section begins the week with Political progress in Iraq?, by a retired Chief Yeoman from Florida:

I am sick of seeing our military being used like pawns in a chess game by neoconservatives in the Bush administration. Until we have a consistent, competent and cohesive bilateral foreign policy, we will never develop a permanent solution in Iraq. President Bush has failed us.

The most current list of Stripes letters from May '07 forward and the URLS to past lists are below.  Note the gap between the Nov. '06 election and Mar. '07, as the military community waited in anticipation for the Democratic party to take control of the madmen in the WH and end the deployment cycle.

They're still waiting.

Mar '07 - May '07

Sept '06 - Nov '06

Jul '06 - Sept '06

Aug. '02 - Jun '06

Here the one I send in response to their solicitation to send a letter to Congress.

I do not think that Gen. Petraeus is a traitor, and I do see how -- despite the sort of "questioning rather than asserting" approach routinely employed by Fox News -- one could strain to read the Move On ad that way.  But I do think that Gen. Petraeus was part of an orchestrated campaign to put lipstick on this pig of an occupation and to divert you and the American public from the truth.  And I have no doubt at all that your passing this resolution serves the latter end.

I look forward to the Senate policing the scurrilous ads and statements that routinely come from right-wing groups and condemning them.  But I'd look forward even more to your doing your job and ending the occupation of Iraq.

I'm not looking for debate here, but if you've posted a letter, feel free to reproduce it here.  If you haven't, click the link above.

Every few months I write to my senator asking him to do what he can to end the unwinnable war in Iraq. He always answers promptly and courteously.

This time I wrote to him pointing out that the surge is not working and that the cost to this country and our future is too high (I don't bother mentioning the cost to the Iraqis because they're not constiuents). My usual points. My new point: Please don't give Bush that fifty billion dollars. Please, Senator?

Other times I've written to him, I think I gotten a variation of the letter below, but it was via snail mail. This one I can lift and paste. So tell me, Kossacks, why do I bother? Should I bother?

On reading today's story about the administration's determination that they will never under any circumstances allow the Justice Department to prosecute contempt charges against anyone acting under a claim of executive privilege. I did what I irregularly do and began dashing off a short letter (in this case to my senators - Nelson and Martinez.)

But either I'm a little more muddle-headed than usual or else I'm just more concious of my muddle-headedness today, because I found myself having to work at it more than usual.

That's when it occurred to me that I could ask my fellow Kossacks for some help.

Rather than fume at my friends coworkers and family, I chose, as I often do, to write directly to the President and tell him how I feel about the Libby decision.

<Flippo>

The morning after the Republican presidential debate is a good time to remind GOP candidates that the most pressing concerns of its presumed voting base, the military, stand in contrast to the candidates' platforms, with the possible exception of Congressman Ron Paul's re: his opposition to the US invasion of Iraq.

To repeat what I'd posted to Congress 1-1/2 yrs ago -- the issues and concerns raised in these Stars & Stripes letters deserve your attention prior to the November 2008 election because they express an ever-growing sentiment of popular opinion.

Either see the light and adapt to the public's will, or lose, again.

Below is an updated list of excerpted letters published in Stars & Stripes from Sept. 20, 2006 to the present, letters which are critical of the Bush administration, of the wars Bush has started/the failed policies he promotes, and critical of those affiliated with the GOP.  Prior lists can be found below.

Note to the GOP: The military does not support you because you do not support the military.

Note to Americans: Support the troops--vote Democratic!

List #3: Sept. 20, '06 to present - posted "downunder."

List #2: July '06 - Sept. 18, '06

List #1: Aug. '02 - June '06

No doubt many of us knew about this already, but I just found out about it. Via the Democratic National Committee website, you can send a single letter to multiple newspapers at once, local and national. They offer suggested subject and tips on how to do it of course. But you can write your own. Just plug in your zip code and get going.

http://www.democrats.org/...

Check it out. Bombard your local media with our message!

Hi All,

I awoke this morning and read dirkster42's diary GET OFF YOUR ASS. FILIBUSTER DELEGATIONS NOW!!!

I was ready to drive in at that pre-dawn moment but as I got dressed I realized that I needed to hone my message.  I am still enraged that this compromise was reached and am not thinking entirely clearly.  Below the fold are my initial ideas I plan to include in a letter.  I would appreciate feedback I hope to send it as an e-mail this afternoon in prelude to a phone call and a visit to my senator's Detroit offices.

Thanks Chris-

Below is an updated list of letters to Stars & Stripes, letters which are either critical of the Bush administration in general, or of the wars Bush has started/policies he promotes. I've broken the original list into two parts, chronologically. The more recent List #2, heading up with summer letters of our discontent, is below. List #1 can be found here.

To GOP Congressmembers, governors, and other hangers-on: Don't count on the military family vote.

Greeting to all from the Great State of Texas.  Here in Brazoria County-"where Texas began"-our local club has started a campaign that we would like to share with the rest of the country.  We are writing letters to the editor that explain "Why I am a Democrat".  For too long we have allowed ourselves to be defined by the Savages and Rushes.  Recent letters have shown the great diversity.  A sampling of reasons I have seen in our local papers:  I am a Christian, I am a parent, I care about the enviroment,  I am a businessman.  Please write to your paper and let your neighbors know why you are a Democrat.  
I love to read posting here at dailykos it is a great source BUT I think we need to adopt a tactic I learned in church:  EVERYONE BRING ONE!  Write those letters.