On Sept. 13, the two major parties in this year's presidential election sent VIP visitors to the greater Washington/Fredericksburg area.

The first lady's visit to the University of Mary Washington campus recently was admittedly a big deal and lent star power to our "little 'Burg." However, that same day, hours earlier, Mitt Romney, the GOP challenger for president, was attending a rally some 40 miles up the road in Fairfax city.

According to The Free Lance-Star ["Progress slow, but sure, first lady says," Sept. 14], an estimated 2,100 attended the UMW rally, and according to the Washington Examiner, about 3,500 attended the Fairfax rally. Both are great numbers for a weekday political rally.

My question concerns the coverage in The Free Lance-Star: Why did the first lady's visit generate two front-page stories of approximately 1,350 words when Romney's visit to the vicinity was relegated to 135 words on page A5? I am not a mathematician but that appears to be a 10:1 ratio. It took me two perusals of the front section to find the scant mention of the Fairfax event.

Perhaps the page where there were similar-sized blurbs originating from Richmond (60 miles away); Washington (50 miles); Brownsville, Md. (110 miles); Boston (490 miles); and Escuintla, Guatemala (2,942 miles) would have been a better site for the Romney paragraph.

For the record, I am a registered voter, not affiliated with either party, but I would like to see parity given to both campaigns in such a pivotal election year. Is this too much to ask?

Marie-Therese Joseph

Stafford