[speaker001:] well seems to me the one of the reasons that people don't go out to vote is maybe they're bored with the whole election process
[speaker002:] well I agree with the boredom of the election process but I also uh think that people don't realize that their boat vote will make a difference uh they feel like that you know it's going to go however it's going to go and their one little vote's not going to make that much difference and it's just why make the effort
[speaker001:] well sometimes strangely enough one vote has made the difference
[speaker002:] well I agree with that and I and I do know that you you know all those votes are counted and and they do make a difference um also I think that people have a tendency to to vote in the larger elections and not vote in the the more local elections
[speaker001:] well it's kind of strange because in the local elections is the ones that have the most influence on their day-to-day lives
[speaker002:] exactly exactly and uh I I even have a tendency to do that myself and I have to really make a concerted effort to to get involved I lived I live in a suburb in Mesquite and uh so I really have to make an effort to read the local paper and to see what's going to because that directly affects me but I I think on the whole most people don't uh feel that way or don't even look even look at that I think they just don't even I I don't think they're conscious of it
[speaker001:] well main part of the problem is they don't they think they have enough choices
[speaker002:] well that may be true too I hadn't thought of that
[speaker001:] you know in some of the European countries they have numbers of parties that run and then lot of more voters come out to vote than vote in this country
[speaker002:] um-hum right and sometimes it's uh well not sometimes but many times it's who has the most money to spend on the largest campaign and and issues get uh bogged down
[speaker001:] well maybe it's a matter of you know voter awareness
[speaker002:] um I think voter awareness I worked I did some work for the uh Women's League of uh Voters uh several years ago and I think there are some organizations that used to uh do some voter awareness uh things don't they don't get a lot of participation they don't get a lot of uh activity most of the League of Women Voters what they did was they put out information so that it it would just be made available to everyone now other areas that I've worked in like in the chambers they would just have the candidates come and it would just you know that was not a lot lot of community involvement and those were people that would mostly vote anyway
[speaker001:] well I think part of the problem is the election goes on way too long in Britain you know they have a set period of time and and for campaign that's it in this country it seems like it's a continuous ongoing campaign
[speaker002:] it's a it's an ongoing campaign and it's expensive campaign and it it uh eliminates a lot of qualified people uh maybe more qualified and uh more dedicated uh uh to the issues
[speaker001:] well the they don't want to spend the time or they don't have the money
[speaker002:] exactly exactly and it it I I can't believe I just can't believe I've I've worked in a couple of local campaigns I just cannot believe the dollars that are spent just even locally
[speaker001:] well it's a matter of name recognition people aren't going to vote for someone they've never heard of
[speaker002:] oh well I agree with that but also and I and I'm not for controlling controlling how much is spent but do you know that's one thing if a if the time wasn't so if it wasn't such a long uh campaigning time then they couldn't spend as much money
[speaker001:] and even debates don't seem to help much
[speaker002:] no they really don't uh it's always it's a lot of it is who looks the best who uh who happens to say the right thing at the right time who not not it who may not be the most qualified and can get the uh the job done
[speaker001:] so we're really voting for the best makeup person and the best handlers
[speaker002:] exactly and it's a it's a lot I've worked in public relations a lot and uh that kind of thing can make and break make or break you as you can remember uh Clayton Williams' campaign
[speaker001:] well that was certainly a media event
[speaker002:] it really was and it's just uh uh he possibly could have uh won that election had it not been for some of the the uh the way he presented himself
[speaker001:] well he had a classic case of hoof in mouth disease
[speaker002:] hoof is is I guess the right term for him