In “New York’s Capital Is Crazytown” (Declarations, Aug. 7), Peggy Noonan suggests that voters consider “likability, local support, money . . . , stances on issues” and stability, along with sanity and the tendency to “push people around,” in choosing candidates for office. Very nice, but she omits something our situation cries out for: character. My second-grade teacher displayed a plaque that read: “Reputation is what people think you are. Character is what God knows you are.” But that was in a different time.

Ed Reynolds

Ledyard, Conn.