University of Virginia Library

More Politics

With respect to Mr.
Gleischman's letter of
December 9, I believe it
necessary to present some
other considerations than those
he presents as a means of
providing the public some
measure of determining the
truth of his charges.

I should first point out that
Mr. Gleischman was contacted
by all parties concerned before
Thanksgiving vacation. His
silence until the day of election
is, in this respect, curious in
view of his apparent moral
virtue, and I fear that the
passage of time has somewhat
clouded his recollection.

It should be confessed that
at that stage of the election
nearly everyone who was not a
member of the December
Coalition was reeling from the
apparent inevitable onslaught
of machine politics. As to
whether or not this was, in
fact, what later occurred, an
open public is the best judge.

It seems, however, that in
seeing no distinction from Mr.
Horan and myself between the
December Coalition, Mr.
Gleischman overlooks the
obvious: we were two, they
were five. True, we were both,
in the literal sense,
coalitions-but there is a major
difference in the presumptions
made between the two groups
in question simply on the
number of candidates offered
and the manner in which their
selection was made.

As for Mr. Collier's support
of the Coalition we were not
troubled in the least-he may
support whom he wishes. It
should be noted, however, that
that support came prior to,
rather than after the coalition
itself was formed.

As to which of us most
respected the individual
integrity of voters, I submit the
following:

From a December Coalition
letter to fraternities: "Until
now candidates for Student
Council have almost
exclusively catered to
First-Year men in the dorms
because they are easily
accessible, and inexperienced-and
as such easily
impressed by bullshit."

Mr. Chris Kerr: "...the
December coalition would not
have formed if they knew that
this motion (removing party
names from the ballot) would
be passed.'

And, from Mr. Tom Collier:
"If the uninformed students do
not vote along party lines,
what do they vote along?"

Mr. Horan and myself have
not only never said such things,
we do not subscribe to them.
Such is not, I submit, the
definition of hypocrisy. The
record is long and clear in this
affair. I believe that a careful
reading of that record
will despite the fact that truth
is the casualty not only in war
but in politics, as well make
plain where the hypocrisy,
falsehood, and mal intent lies.