A Week Before the Day of Decision Re "Barack Obama for Re-Election" (editorial, Oct. 28): I would like to commend The Times for its beautifully written, detailed and often pointed article endorsing President Obama. It is the finest one I have seen so far. I was happy to see that you addressed the economic meltdown that could have occurred had Mr. Obama not have taken the proper measures. It amazes me that so many people cling to the absurd notion that Democrats are "bad for the economy" when history does not bear it out. I was even happier to see that my civil rights as a gay citizen, as well as the astounding misconceptions regarding the Affordable Care Act, were addressed - not to mention the potential horror of a Supreme Court under a Romney-Ryan administration. Re "The Price of a Black President," by Fredrick C. Harris (Sunday Review, Oct. 28): In criticizing President Obama for not giving more attention to "black issues," his critics seem to ignore the racial statistics that delivered him to the White House. The 95 percent of us (black voters) who supported him in 2008 simply couldn't have elected him by ourselves. Mr. Obama needed widespread support beyond black voters and, coming to power amid the Great Recession, he had to do some political triage. In the short term, that "priority juggling" might have appeared insensitive to African-Americans and certain other supportive political constituencies. Despite his shortcomings, it might be wise for critics to examine the 2008 and 2012 alternatives. Is there evidence that Senator John McCain would have been more attentive to issues facing African-Americans than President Obama? What about Mitt Romney and the ultraconservatives who now exert so much influence in his campaign? We live in a time when dissembling and disenfranchisement are characterized as campaign tactics, rather than as threats to representative democracy. It is frankly churlish for Fredrick C. Harris to ignore the sophistication exhibited by African-Americans in choosing to compare President Obama to the alternative, rather than to the Almighty.