To the Editor:

In the cesspool that is today's politics, we have reached a new low.

Those close to President Obama send notices to those who are on the White House mailing list, notifying the recipient of an upcoming special occasion, which is currently the impending 51st birthday of the president. The recipient is asked by First Lady Michelle Obama to "sign Barack's card", and when clicking to the page that is to enable one to do so, they are hit with a solicitation for money to help him win re-election and means making remittance, including, of course, the ability to cough it up through the use of a credit card. This money is critical in the president's effort to tell the nation why his opponent is a bad guy, thus providing perverse reason to re-elect the president.

Can one imagine First Ladies Jacqueline Kennedy or Nancy Reagan engaging in something so crass in order to boost their husbands' re-election campaigns? Of course not; they would have been appalled and refused to participate on the grounds that to do so would be beneath their dignity.

Mitt Romney is no angel when it comes to fundraising or in going after his opponent, but the Obama camp's actions stand out as particularly smarmy. When will we turn away from both major political parties of this era, each of which has been the captive of special interests and against the public interest, and each of which is deserving of citizen contempt?

Oren Spiegler
Upper St. Clair