[speaker001:] here we go
[speaker002:] okay where are you from
[speaker001:] I'm from uh Attleboro Massachusetts
[speaker002:] oh is that where you're talking from
[speaker001:] yes
[speaker002:] oh well yeah can tell from your accent
[speaker001:] how how about you
[speaker002:] I'm from Louisville Kentucky but I'm here in Texas
[speaker001:] oh you're down there in Texas oh okay um
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] so we're supposed to be talking about why only half the people vote in national elections
[speaker002:] huh
[speaker001:] um
[speaker002:] do you vote regular
[speaker001:] I vote regularly yes I do
[speaker002:] okay
[speaker001:] in the national elections um some of the local um I don't tend to unless there's a referendums something that's going to affect the town
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] uh then I uh
[speaker002:] well I
[speaker001:] then I put my two cents in
[speaker002:] uh I need to get into voting I've never voted
[speaker001:] you never ever voted
[speaker002:] no I've never voted I've never felt comfortable enough with it I don't know enough about politics to know what the right choice is anyway
[speaker001:] as far as uh
[speaker002:] even local candidates it just I talked about this the other day on the telephone with it's uh so many politicians you know they put up a front to me you know they're not showing you the real person anyway they're just show showing what the public wants to see
[speaker001:] uh that's true unless you unless you come from I come I come from a fairly small town so I I live in Rhode Island but I work in Massachusetts um
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] and it's fairly small and you and most of the people you tend to know at least the family or you know uh
[speaker002:] well that would be nice yeah
[speaker001:] it's uh it's getting away from that now I mean the town's growing bigger as as all towns are and you're right they're uh uh I think uh most politicians when they first get into politics they want to do a good job and then after they're they're in there a while you have to play the good old boy network
[speaker002:] right
[speaker001:] and it's uh uh um they have their own special interests and watch out for the people that are going to do the most for them too to get them reelected I think
[speaker002:] right well that's what I mean it's just you don't know what's real I guess
[speaker001:] yeah how about uh bond issues or referendum that they they put on you don't
[speaker002:] I don't know much about that at all what do you mean like when you vote for a certain thing not a person
[speaker001:] right yeah whether they they want to build a new school whether they want to put in a new reservoir or or
[speaker002:] okay no I've never voted on anything like that either
[speaker001:] um but yet they're taking your tax money or they would if if some of these bond issues passed
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] um you still didn't have any feelings one way or the other about whether they they should do it or shouldn't
[speaker002:] well see I've never how do you do the do you do that like you're voting just like if you're taking a a presidential election do you just go somewhere and place your ballot or
[speaker001:] yeah yes
[speaker002:] huh well see I've never heard of that well I know that sounds stupid but I really haven't I've never heard of that
[speaker001:] um how how long have you lived in in where are you now Texas in Dallas
[speaker002:] I'm no I'm in Denison Texas up north in on in the north part of Texas
[speaker001:] uh okay but you haven't lived your your whole life you came from Kentucky did you say
[speaker002:] right I moved from Kentucky when I was twenty one
[speaker001:] oh okay but you grew up in that town or
[speaker002:] right I grew up in Louisville
[speaker001:] well Louisville okay that's and but that's and Louisville's a a large city so
[speaker002:] yeah it's a fairly big city
[speaker001:] yeah you didn't have local real local politics like you know like a small town would how about where you are now is that a fairly large
[speaker002:] Denison it's uh I wouldn't say it's large but it is one of the bigger cities in this part of Texas
[speaker001:] yeah so you're in the same boat there
[speaker002:] right it's about the same
[speaker001:] and you don't really know who's who are what's going on or yeah
[speaker002:] no I remember once when I was working in Louisville one of the mayor candidates come up to the uh uh place where I was working and he had asked me I don't know I guess it had been about two years since I'd been eligible to vote and I haven't hadn't been voting well he had uh this is one of the things that you know formed my opinion on politician politicians he sat there and promised you know the next day we're going to take you up and get you registered to vote and you're going to vote for me and blah blah blah but then he never showed up
[speaker001:] ha
[speaker002:] you know
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] it was one of his aides or whatever but still I thought you know they say what they want to for the time being what sounds good
[speaker001:] just just so they can get in
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] that's all and it's uh they probably should limit the the terms of office to no more than two years I mean two terms that way they don't get in there because some of these guys have been in there like for twenty years and they they kind of run things the way they want to run them whether whether it's uh
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] for the good of the the town or the people in the town or not
[speaker002:] uh-huh well that's I think they need to have a a better oh I need to know a lot more about politics and they need to have something in the community well like in high school they should teach politics or the government I mean I think so
[speaker001:] yeah um some of them do now um social social sciences and I'm not sure how far they get into politics and that uh
[speaker002:] uh-huh well I want to know about politics in particular you know just you know what the workings of it is
[speaker001:] oh the like uh uh parliamentary procedure and and that sort of thing
[speaker002:] everything right in order for me to be able to form a a good opinion opinion on who to vote for or whatever I I need to know about it
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] you know
[speaker001:] uh
[speaker002:] and if I could keep a follow-up on the candidates running like right now you know I know whose president vice president and I know a couple of the mayors like Koch in New York I don't even know who's mayor down here in Texas off hand
[speaker001:] yeah yeah um I don't it it's they've got they've got rules and regulations they have to follow for for government procedures but there's too many special interest groups now that are in there that that can sway an election one way or another
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] um I don't even think running to to the running of the government now is done by the the president they say yo u know he's I think he's only really a figurehead he only can do certain amount of things because he's got so many people after him you know an he's he's got to look out
[speaker002:] so much well what do you think about I think just you know anybody should be allowed to run for president just even an ordinary guy off the street if he knows the politics
[speaker001:] well you can except it costs so much money now that the average person can't do that
[speaker002:] right it's it's that's what I mean it's all money and
[speaker001:] um plus they're all you you have to play the people that have been in power now uh most of them are I think are are crooks
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] and you have to play their ball game they've been in there so long and if you don't then they'll you know they'll find ways to get rid of you
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] no one's held accountable anymore for things that happen well
[speaker002:] what did you think of that whole mess with Ollie North and all that
[speaker001:] oh I think that they should have crucified him that's what I think
[speaker002:] uh Reagan and Bush and
[speaker001:] Reagan too Reagan he knew about it
[speaker002:] oh of course he did
[speaker001:] and if he didn't know the whole scope of it whoever whoever was directly under him
[speaker002:] he should have looked into it right or it should have been looked into more
[speaker001:] yeah an now it's coming out where there was there was holding the hostages now they're saying that the hostages were being made political pawns when Carter and Reagan were running I mean you know
[speaker002:] yeah well that's the way I felt when uh Carter and Reagan was running I liked Carter as a president
[speaker001:] he was a a a nice man I'm not sure uh he was too probably too moral
[speaker002:] yeah but he was a I don't know he was a good Christian and everything though well from what I've seen I was only sixteen then but I when Reagan came in I figured I thought it ran through my head that Carter lost because the hostages you know that whole mess
[speaker001:] yeah yeah
[speaker002:] wasn't it the day after Reagan was elected that they were brought home
[speaker001:] well shortly there after yeah
[speaker002:] or yeah shortly after
[speaker001:] yeah so there was some collusion in there I guess
[speaker002:] I think a lot of people were disappointed because they had been held hostage for so long
[speaker001:] and I think that's part of the problem why people don't vote anymore because of of it's just out of people's hands and they say one vote means a lot but
[speaker002:] but is a lot enough people
[speaker001:] it used to I don't think it one vote means means diddly anymore
[speaker002:] no but if enough people think like that then it does you know
[speaker001:] yeah but but people get disillusioned too
[speaker002:] well well if I knew more about it like I said if they would get some kind of educational program out there where just anybody can learn
[speaker001:] um probably one of the local do they have adult ed classes at some of the local schools
[speaker002:] oh I'm sure they do
[speaker001:] where they teach uh you know like political science or something
[speaker002:] I don't know I could check into that
[speaker001:] yeah because you because it might give you uh an insight you know uh you have to vote I've always I've always voted I even though sometimes it's hard to choose between whose running
[speaker002:] uh-huh right well wasn't it I know I can't remember I think I guess it was when Ferraro Ferraro is that her name when her and uh I can't remember who was running for president with her I just remember she was going to be vice
[speaker001:] um oh uh Ferraro yeah Geraldine
[speaker002:] yeah who was running with her who was her running mate
[speaker001:] uh I don't remember