WHERE IS MR. SMITH?

In an era of 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week campaigns in which candidates must raise and spend millions of dollars, it does a disservice to our political and legislative process to suggest that simply by virtue of commitment to principles, or by virtue of being a successful community activist, one can serve effectively in elected office. Every job, including that of legislator, requires particular skills and training. The skills that enable an activist to organize a boycott, to motivate students or to speak passionately for a cause may not enable a legislator to analyze the current law, develop new but consistent legislative proposals to address an issue and then work to make that proposal the law.

ABBY J. LEIBMAN

Santa Monica