Letter: Let Oprah and me pick our candidates

In the course of one column in Tuesday's Las Vegas Sun ("Who's voting for Oprah?"), Dan K. Thomasson eliminated the defining principle of American government: democracy.

In a blistering attack on Citizen Oprah, Thomasson said she is infinitely unqualified to address voters and tell them who she thinks would make a good president. In so doing, he inadvertently told Iowa voters, indeed all voters, that they are unqualified to select a president.

I share a common resume with most voters in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, and Oprah herself for that matter, as I am an ordinary citizen who is free to speak my mind on who I believe should be president. In fact, I have been asked to caucus - publicly declare my support for a candidate - gasp! And yet I myself lack the extensive experience Thomasson says is necessary to voice an opinion.

I am a campaign volunteer for Obama, but that is beside the point here. Pick your celebrity supporter - Maya Angelou to Chuck Norris - and the question is the same: Who, if not ordinary citizens like me, Oprah, Maya, Chuck and caucusing Iowans and Nevadans, should be allowed to choose our president, Mr. Thomasson?

Paul Speirs, Las Vegas

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