Vincent Macotra, Ed Mahar, Diane Smith, Kyle Hart, Peter Ward (Kit Rodophele)
“We got to have some kind of a better medical plan than what we have now. It’s so expensive. I mean, prescriptions are so expensive. Doctors and hospitals, the cost of medical insurance — they’ve gone out of reach.”
(Vincent Macotra, 78, of Syracuse, retired, declined to give political affiliation)
“I’m concerned of course about the economy. I’m concerned about the environment. I don’t want to see any rollbacks of any EPA regulations. I want the environment to be clean. I want Americans to have jobs, so I would like to move away from the petroleum-based economy, if possible.”
(Ed Mahar, 59, of Palermo, works in therapy aid at Oswego Behavioral Services, unaffiliated with a political party)
“It’s really healthcare, because I don’t even have health insurance myself. I’ve been a bookkeeper for over 16 years. See now, my husband and I, we don’t qualify for Medicaid, because we both work. So we’re in that in-between. We’re the middle-class person. The poor get Medicaid, and the rich don’t care, and we don’t get anything. We work every day and we can’t get anything.”
(Diane Smith, 60, of Syracuse, bookkeeper, unaffiliated with a political party)
“The availability of jobs is very important in my family, especially with me growing up. I need to have a job.”
(Kyle Hart, 20, of Syracuse, Onondaga Community College student, Republican)
“Another thing that concerns me is taxes. Deficit spending is going to require higher taxes. Higher taxes fold the economy, and it’s a vicious cycle, and nobody’s doing anything about it.”
(Peter Ward, 63, of Cazenovia, financial advisor, Republican)
(Kit Rodophele is a senior majoring in broadcast journalism.)
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