“When it comes to politics, there’s two places that get hit really hard — the young and the old. The young people because they don’t have a voice — they’re not allowed to have a voice. The old is because they just don’t listen to the older as far as healthcare and everything. Schools are the first they take when it comes to budget cutting. And they wonder why we are way behind in the other countries as far as schooling.”
(Christopher Brokes, 42, of Solvay, cook at Embassy Suites, unaffiliated with a political party)
“I think the biggest thing that bothers me is education. There’s just so much waste and overlap that if they really sat down and looked at it and how they’re spending the money, we wouldn’t have the problem we’re having. I know it’s not that simple. But it’s just waste, waste, waste.”
(Elaine Kimpel, 56, of Fabius, self-employed sales representative, of the Independence Party)
“My main two concerns are unemployment and foreclosures. I think more programs need to be found or designed to help people that are trying their best, and aren’t making six-figure salaries, in order to help those people maintain their homes.”
(Diane Scherer, 58, of Syracuse, call-center agent, Democrat)
“They need to be doing more for the families of soldiers who are gone. Just bring them together because a lot of them feel like they’re all by themselves. Up at Fort Drum, they might come from like Texas and they’re only there a month or two and they’re deployed and their family is left in this new place that they don’t know anybody.”
(Shenita Ruiz, 23, of Syracuse, graduate student in education at Syracuse University School of Education)
“I think the abortion issue should be left alone. It’s nobody’s business. You want to go to church on Sunday, fine. For those that don’t, that’s okay too.”
(Doug Blanchard, 78, of Marcellus, retired from the insurance business, member of the Republican Party)
(Stephen Hughes is a graduate student in magazine, newspaper and online journalism.)
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