Bravo to Sheldon Whitehouse for brilliantly masking his dismal record as Rhode Island attorney general. By running a hollow campaign that seems to stress very little other than the "D" that follows his name, he clearly hopes to disguise the fact that his legacy and that of his party is one of cronyism and neglect. Savvier Rhode Islanders who are not deluded by patriotic music and vague advertisements will hopefully remember that Mr. Whitehouse's "friends" are people like John Harwood and Bob Urucioli, not the average Rhode Islanders that he purportedly cares about.

We have not forgotten that under Attorney General Whitehouse, Buddy Cianci reigned, the General Assembly operated unchecked, and open government was nonexistent. Rhode Islanders don't forget about then-Attorney General Whitehouse's inept handling of tragedies like the Cornel Young shooting and the murder of Jennifer Rivera.

Hopefully no amount of saccharine advertising will be able to fool those of us who remember Mr. Whitehouse's disastrous years as a public servant who frequently forgot about the public good. Rhode Island deserves better than a candidate for U.S. Senate that is running as little more than the letter "D."

KEVIN McDONALD

Providence