Madam,– Your comments about the Tea Party movement (Editorial, February 13th) are a serious misreading of the tea leaves. You say the Republican Party remains dominated by conservative and evangelical ideologues, finding it difficult to appeal to centrist voters wary of extremism. This is an obsolete mindset. The recent unseating of stalwart Democrat governors by Republicans in Virginia and New Jersey, plus a Republican replacing Ted Kennedy in the Massachusetts Senate seat, each by a comfortable margin, could only have happened with the broad support of centrists.
Add to that the growing list of prominent incumbent Democrats waving the white flag and choosing not to stand for re-election in November and you have dramatic evidence that the centrist voters are flocking to the Republican Party. Cold or hot, the voters are drinking this tea. – Yours, etc,