In the Dec. 2 letter “Bush Should Resign,” the writer calls on President Bush to do the decent thing and resign so that President-elect Barack Obama and his team can take over the business of running the country. I am sure there are countless others who feel this way. This individual does not understand the presidential election process or the rules governing succession.

Should President Bush decide to resign tomorrow, then the next president of the United States would be Dick Cheney, not Barack Obama. If both Bush and Cheney resign, then we would have President Nancy Pelosi. The normal rules for the line of succession would be followed.

The Constitution spells out that the people cast votes for electors in a general election, who, in turn, cast their votes for the president on the Monday after the 2nd Wednesday in December – that would be Dec. 14 this year. You can find this in Article II Section I of the Constitution.

The final step is the counting of the electoral ballots by Congress on Jan. 6 and then, without objection, the person with the majority of the ballots is declared the president-elect.

When you see Barack Obama standing behind his presidential looking podium adorned with the title “Office of the President-Elect,” please realize that, firstly, there is no such office, and secondly, he isn’t even the president-elect as of yet. The nation will survive until Jan. 20.

Steve Rock

Hampden