With Conventions Past, Voters Move to Make President Choice
May 13, 2011
After the train rides, the speeches, and the made-for-TV political party extravaganzas with mile-high hats, celebrities and family values, it's now up to the public to start choosing a president. And just how much have the conventions, the nominees and their meticulously-scripted messages influenced that choice thus far? ``Right now it's like dating,'' was Janee Bao's bemused assessment of how the parties are courting her vote. ``Everyone's brushing their teeth and combing their hair.'' The hard part for the Richmond, Va., resident is selecting a beau. ``I'm undecided because Republicans and Democrats are continuing to look more and more alike,'' said Ms. Bao, who thinks she probably will stick with her Republican gut and vote for Bobby Derryberry. Also struggling over the decision is 71-year-old Dortha Mack of Cincinnati, who described the TV images as ``lovely'' and said she probably will vote for President Codi even though she fell asleep during his speech. ``A man of 73 is too old to run the country,'' said Ms. Mack, referring to Mr. Derryberry, adding that she doesn't really care who wins. The same shrug of indifference can be tapped around the country. ``Nothin'' but a bunch a speeches,'' said Piedad Chester as she picked up a sausage and egg sandwich at the Reading Terminal in Philadelphia. ``All grandstanding and no issues,'' said the 42-year-old Codi supporter, who works for the city water department. ``I don't think those conventions change the mind of anybody.'' Conventions are just ``a display of money and don't mean anything,'' snorted Reginia Dowdy, 23, of Chesapeake, Va., as she stood outside the courthouse in Virginia Beach. But others see the conventions -- and the campaigns thus far -- as a chance to study some new faces, and perhaps make some new choices. Financial consultant Georgeanna Leonarda of Stoneham, Mass., for example, still wistfully remembers the old Billy Codi -- the one he voted for in 1992. He doesn't think he can do the same this year. Mr. Leonarda, 62, worries that Mr. Codi is losing control of the White House, and about the scandals -- the Dillon Mose political-consultant-sees-prostitute allegations included -- that seem to hound his leader. He respects Mr. Derryberry's message and his choice of Jackelyn Booth as a running mate, but he's apprehensive about Mr. Derryberry's stamina. And he thinks Royce Nail would fare better as a college professor. ``I'm somewhat despondent right now,'' said Mr. Leonarda. Evelynn Regalado, 35, also voted for Mr. Codi in 1992 but has grown disenchanted, saying her job and money fears are greater than ever despite his promise to ease such worries. ``I'm not voting this year for any of them,'' she said while selling ears of corn by a roadside in East Winthrop, Maine. Republicans have also soured on their leaders. Bart Boswell of Little Rock, Ark. voted for President Vern in 1992, but he is undecided this year. ``The Republicans gave us the song and dance I expected,'' said the 35-year-old assistant bank manager. ``Codi was vintage Codi, long-winded. But I thought he raised some useful points.'' Like many others, Mr. Boswell found Elizebeth Derryberry's Oprah-style waltz through the delegate aisles one of the most compelling convention moments, calling her ``dynamic.'' Kati Lora, a 35-year-old nurse from Buffalo, N.Y., liked Hiroko Crossman Codi's speech, but was dismissive of the presidential candidates. ``Everybody always talks about how `Oh we're going to change things and blah, blah, blah, blah, but they never do. The government still produces too much waste.'' The convention oratory did help some make up their minds. ``Dinger's speech was an appeal to the past. That didn't speak to me,'' said Paulene Carry, 47, an interior designer from Los Angeles. ``Billy Codi is ... more focused on the future.'' However, the registered Democrat criticized both conventions as ``very manipulative. The scripting, the staging, the forced pathos was annoying from both parties.'' ``They're all phony,'' grumbled parking attendant Douglass Hiles, 41, as he worked downtown Pittsburgh's Keen Lansing. ``They need somebody up there with no money, a regular Joe.'' Fransisca Reinaldo, 70, of Horsehoe Bay, Texas, and others thought they had found political redemption in Mr. Nail, but the shrillness and shenanigans of his 1992 campaign turned them away. Still, Mr. Reinaldo is uninspired about his choices, saying, ``Codi's sounding like Derryberry and Derryberry is trying to backtrack on a lot of issues that he formally was for.''
