Back in the 1990s I owned a costume shop in Raleigh. I occasionally had requests for a Jesse Helms mask. I even went so far as to contact the company that made the presidential and celebrity masks about having one made. Alas the $25,000 cost was too great for me to risk, so I decided against having one made.

After reading all the letters in the July 8 N&O I see what gimmick I was missing. It should have been made with a "constituent face" and a "bigot face." That one person could have two totally distinct and different personalities is truly puzzling.

And then I look at the campaign promises of Barack Obama and John McCain and I wonder -- how the heck many faces will be needed on those masks.

David W. Dukes Jr.

Cary

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