To The Editor: I am a young voter, just 18 years old, and I am fed up with the bickering from people who cannot get their facts straight. Individuals have to stop making false accusations against Barack Obama and the other presidential contenders. I focus on Sen. Obama because he has been the target of malicious attacks that have no basis of truth. I speak, not as a supporter of Obama, but as a supporter of the truth. There are people in this nation who still believe that Obama does not salute our flag. If those individuals would do a little research instead of circulating false claims, they would realize that Obama does pledge to the flag. In fact, there are short videos of these instances occurring in the Senate where Obama leads the Senate chamber in saluting the flag. One can find these videos towards the bottom of the web page at: www.snopes.com/politics /obama/anthem.asp. As for believing in the Bible, Obama is a Christian. Sure, his pastor made offensive comments, but his pastor is not running for president, Obama is. People must understand that Obama does not stand for these comments, and he has repeatedly said that his pastor was absolutely wrong for making such statements. I think all of us have that crazy relative who says things that are offensive, and though they are our relative, we may not agree with what they may say. Another thing people have to understand is that just because his middle name is Hussein does not mean that he is a terrorist. Persecuting someone for having a name that they had no voice in choosing is like persecuting someone because they were born of a particular race or gender. I only ask that people base their selection for president based on the merits, intelligence, and quality of each person based on the candidate alone. It would be unfair and unjust to bring irrelevant and untrue "information" into the center of an election of this importance. It would also be an affront to truth by continuing such deceptive slander about individuals who have devoted their lives to public service. MICHAEL MERCADO Middle Township