His Senate record

In his Dec. 18 column "Barack Obama vs. the Rock Obama," Tony Norman expresses surprise at the fact that President Obama is continuing President George W. Bush's policies on the economy, the military and civil liberties.

Apparently, Mr. Norman never bothered to look at the voting record of Sen. Barack Obama, because if he had done so, he would not be surprised at all.

Sen. Obama voted for the $700 billion corporate welfare bailout bill. Sen. Obama voted to fund the Iraq War. Sen. Obama voted to reauthorize the Patriot Act. Given that Sen. Obama voted for these policies, it should come as no surprise that President Obama supports these policies.

Like Mr. Norman, I oppose these policies. But unlike Mr. Norman, I did research on the candidates' voting records, which is why I wrote in Ron Paul for president.

In the future, I suggest that Mr. Norman judge candidates based on their voting records, instead of on the speeches they give.

DANIEL D. ALMAN
Squirrel Hill