American voters

Re: Will Democrats now be free-traders? William Watson, Nov. 8; Election ominous for GOP in the long term, Andrew Coyne, Nov. 8.

Although not explicitly stated, there is a belief that the success of the Republican party is not legitimate because fewer well-educated voters cast their ballots for the GOP as opposed to the Democrats. The implication is that a college- or universityeducated person has a better grasp of the important issues in American society. Why would an English or psychology major have a better grasp of important issues than an electrician or a hairdresser? As William Watson points out, many post-secondary students go nowhere near an economics course. Many individuals who have taken a course in economics in the past have probably forgotten most of what was covered. I do not mean to imply that only those with a background in economics should be allowed to vote. Elections involve more issues than economics. All individual viewpoints matter.

Further to this point, universities tend to be dominated by left-of-centre professors. Does exposure to these individuals make you a smarter person at election time? Rick Hird, Whitby, Ont.

I attentively read the Post’s coverage of the U.S. midterm elections by Kelly McParland, Colby Cosh, Conrad Black and Andrew Coyne. While Messrs. McParland, Cosh and Black provided relevant facts on the pro’s and con’s of the results, Andrew Coyne once again got personal and made his column all about his visceral contempt of Donald Trump. He continues to cherry-pick statistics or data that is negative of Trump while offering superficial comments on anything positive. In addition he continues to state that the majority of Trump voters appear to be predominately white, uneducated rural folks. Are we to assume, using this logic, that all the multicultural people from the inner cities all vote Democrat? Of course not. How cynical of Mr. Coyne to paint this picture. Ed Lacelle, Buckingham, Que.