I would not take issue with many of Editor Steve Bouser's comments about President Obama because, as Americans, we all hope he succeeds. But running a great campaign and having a "remarkable ability to speak" does not mean that you can govern the country.

The president talked about many campaign issues, so let's talk about two that concern many Americans -- education and poverty.

I think it ironic that Washington, D.C., has a problem with its school system, its graduation rates (low), and its cost per student (high). A new superintendent is making progress, but the ultimate guideline will be that graduation rates in Washington, D.C., schools go from 50 percent to 60 percent and hopefully much higher.

In too many cases both local and national politicians are influenced by teachers' unions that contribute an inordinate amount of money to the Democrats. Bad teachers should be removed and good teachers rewarded.

Another issue is poverty (again, there's a high ratio of poverty in many sections of Washington, D.C.). Since the "war on poverty" (President Johnson) started back in the 1960s, we have spent somewhere north of $5 trillion to solve this problem -- and in the newest "bailout" package probably another $250 billion.

The poverty rate in this country (family of four making $18,000) is still near 14 percent. Let's see if this improves.

I wish Obama the best, but let's set some benchmarks/guidelines so in two to three years, when these campaign issues have/have not been handled, we can all applaud or be disappointed as we have with many campaign promises from both parties in the past.

Larry Townsend

Pinehurst