ACRIMONY

This is the most acrimonious presidential election campaign i've seen since 1980. In 1980, people who had been life-long friends were no longer speaking to one another by election day. Some couples were on the verge of breaking up. A woman to whom i was attracted, and who had shown her own interest, turned on her heel and stormed out of my office just because i said i was a John Anderson supporter, and would never vote for Reagan. She was so consistently nasty in the summer and fall, that when, after the election, she decided we could be friends again, i was no longer interested.

For the record, i voted for Anderson, even though it was clear that he didn't have a chance. He was the only candidate whose program was in the realm of reality. He is the only Republican i have ever voted for for that office. (He was obliged to run as an independent after the convention.) Jimmy Carter hurt his campaign with the voters by refusing to attend debates if Mr. Anderson were present.

I have never spoken a word against Mr. Sanders. I have certainly decried the obsessive almost hysterical tone of his supporters. For that, i have been treated as though i were the enemy. It's a shame. It's like 1980 all over again.