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If the president is looking for a mandate from the people [ELECTION 96, Nov. 18], your exit polls show an obvious one: 83% of black voters voted for Clinton, while only 12% voted for Dole; females also decided overwhelmingly for Clinton. The mandate is clear: gender issues and race relations must not only be dealt with in a serious mindset but also be discussed much more thoroughly. SAM RAMSEY BAHARVAR Ithaca, New York Via E-mail
The accuracy of the exit polls--at least as the networks do them--is getting scary. The next logical step seems to be to refine the polls further so that results can be predicted by early afternoon on Election Day, rather than having to wait until evening. And I foresee a day in the not-too-distant future when there will be no need for most of us to vote--an "exit- poll sample" will do it for us. Our representative government will be chosen through "representative elections." DONALD E. LINDMAN Lansing, Michigan
COLOR THE FIRST WOMEN
Your photo of the first family for "Our Journey Is Not Done" [ELECTION 96, Nov. 18] speaks more than a thousand words. Whoever chose to dress these two beautiful women in earthy, drab brown had to have done so with the sole intent of blending them into the background so that the President, in his bright tie, would be in the foreground. Is this the message that the Administration wishes to convey to women, that their role in "building a bridge to the 21st century" will be in the background? Whoever chose to put a joyful 16-year-old and her vivacious mother in that dreadful clothing should be covered in sackcloth and ashes. ROBERT W. WHITE London
THE MESSAGE STRATEGISTS
"Masters of the Message" is must reading for the electorate [ELECTION 96, Nov. 18], especially if Clinton's type of campaign (neuropersonality polling, etc.) becomes the norm. The voters must understand how politicians wantonly manipulate, psychologically massage and rhetorically swindle us to achieve their goal, which is to win at all costs. HELEN GADE GANT Utica, New York
What your article suggests about the strategists who make and sell political messages is deeply unsettling. Every word, every move, especially the policy decisions made by President Clinton during the 1 1/2 years preceding the election, was scripted by his re-election managers. The narrative brings into question some basic issues of the President's professional integrity. Can we believe that Clinton is capable of thinking on his own? GLADYS GIFFORD Buffalo, New York
Kudos to time for its informative Election Special, particularly Richard Stengel and Eric Pooley's page turner, "Masters of the Message," and Peggy Noonan's analysis of the Dole campaign. Not only were both pieces riveting, required reading but they, perhaps inadvertently, revealed just how far we have sunk as a society: our leadership panders to polls so shamelessly that the word verges on becoming meaningless. GERARD M. CORRIGAN Arlington, Virginia Via E-mail