It s the dynamics of change, and they re not responding correctly to it, a Modesto man said referring to political leaders in the nation. They re trying the old system of trying to fix things instead of trying to find some new ways.
Americans asserted that they wanted to deal with the challenges they see, but they did not believe that the old system the existing ways in which America goes about dealing with its common challenges would work.
People complained bitterly in the discussions that America s political leadership and news media seemed mired in practices that prevent the nation from acting effectively on its challenges. Indeed, people often felt that political leaders and news media have lost sight of their public mission. What is more, group participants suggested that they themselves have abdicated their responsibility to the larger society around them.
The participants in these conversations wondered if America has the will and capacity to act on its most pressing challenges.
As the `96 election approaches, people want to make sense of their concerns and figure out which of the candidates can best lead America. They are looking to the news media to help them do this.
But the discussion participants were not optimistic about finding such help. People felt betrayed and bewildered by the news media. They said that too much of what the news media convey is endless dirt and gossip, sensationalized coverage, and confused and polarized public discourse. Group participants asserted that these practices undermine the very fabric of the union.
At the core of people s concerns was a belief that news media have lost a sense of their mission in society and have failed to live up to their responsibility to inform people about the news and challenges around them.
When asked what they thought news media coverage of the 96 election would look like, a Jacksonville woman echoed the prediction of many when she said, a regular soap opera. She said of this coverage, You don t know what s going on anywhere.
People asserted that they wanted more from the news media in this election than just another soap opera. A San Francisco man replied that the news media should provide a disciplined, fair, unbiased view of election news and events. And a Modesto man made this plea: Show a little discretion on what you re putting on.
Here are the main points that people raised when talking about news media for the upcoming 96 election and more generally for coverage of the nation s public affairs.
Tackle what s really important. They bring up such stupid things, like who slept with who, said a Claremont woman about how news media cover elections and candidates. A Tampa woman added, It doesn t matter what the topic may be. It might be that, Oh my God he read 10 times the Webster Dictionary! But she asked, What does that mean?...The media just grabs on it. A Davenport man remarked that he was tired of the news media telling people that a candidate had smoked in school. He said, Big deal! That was way back then. This is the future. We need to concentrate on the future. A Jacksonville woman claimed that she could not trust current coverage You get a false picture of things.
People said repeatedly that they wanted the news media to focus on what is really important, as a Jacksonville man stated, report on the stuff that really means things. One San Francisco man suggested that covering what was important would lead journalists to take a different approach to their stories. Maybe the headline wouldn t be, President Calls Candidate...An Asshole! . Instead he said, Maybe they should have the headline be, Candidate on Such-and-Such, and then they just list the issues.
Clarify the issues. Discussion participants noted that they wanted the news media to help them better understand important issues the different sides, various options, the reasons why an issue is being discussed. A Tampa man summed up many people s beliefs when he argued, Have a media that is not only informed...but informs as part of its operation.
Pointing to an example of what she wanted, a Des Moines woman said, On C-Span they have the two sides on all the time. She added, And those people don t yell at each other. A Miami woman remarked that she is looking for the negative and the positive together...just balance both...give the public a chance to choose. And a Tampa woman, asking for meaningful coverage, stated unequivocally, Give me more options than just yes/no.
Indeed, people implored the news media not to dig for dirt, but to illuminate issues. A Jacksonville man made this point, saying, If they re going to say, I m for this! find out if there s a reason. A Tampa man remarked that there were important aspects of issues that should be covered, but too often were missed. When you get these little...gray zones, he said about issues, you just don t get the real thing from the media the gray zones get lost. And a San Diego man noted that news coverage makes sense to people when it is in a language they can understand: We want information that speaks on a basic level...instead of the legal jargon.
Some people did say, however, that the news media should not confuse people s desire for greater clarity with wanting more volume. Said a San Diego woman, We re wanting, wanting, wanting more information. And she noted that people were saying to news media, Give us more! give us more! But she added, people do not necessarily want long, complicated documents. Don t give me a manual that I have to read.
Create complete profiles of candidates. An Orlando woman noted that the news media should profile candidates better, so from the richest person to the poorest of the people would know what the heck [candidates] stand for and what they plan to do about it. A Davenport man asked of the news media, I would like to see them eliminate all the mudslinging and just get down to the issues. He continued that more useful candidate profiles would help voters know, where the people are from, what their background was, what their life was like. He added, You don t see any of that.
Indeed, people throughout the conversations called on the news media to offer profiles that went beyond candidate sound bites on their positions or their negative reactions to opponents. A Los Angeles woman said that she wanted, Information on the candidates on who they are, what they ve done in the past, where they re planning to go, and how they re planning to get there. A Jacksonville woman had a similar take: Tell me what he s done, what he will do, and who is giving him money. And a man in that group added that he wants the news media to close the loop for him, If they want to cover what the candidate says... reference what he says with what he s already proven.
Don t pick apart the candidates. People asserted that the news media should stop picking candidates apart so much. Said a Tampa woman about news coverage of candidates, The candidate is torn apart and picked to death, all in the name of trying to kick them off of that pedestal. A Tampa man added, It s really distracting that you have to find something wrong with somebody and dwell upon that .
People asserted that this kind of news coverage has a negative effect on politics and society. I hate it with a passion, said a Jacksonville man. How will we ever have any unity if [the news media] get up and say, Well, he didn t dot his i and he didn t cross his t . A Davenport woman made this observation. People s wrongs have a right to be brought into the public. But, she cautioned, Let s not go after every little thing. Let s not talk about someone bad, because that s teaching our kids, once again, that the only way you re gonna get anywhere is by talking bad about somebody.
This conversation prompted another Davenport woman to say that she did not believe the news media would cover something positive even if it hit them in the face: If a politician says something nice, the media would just turn it off and say, Well, we won t bring the ratings in this week, so you ve got to find something a little dirtier than that! And a Des Moines woman reminded people, The saying goes, It is always easier to say something bad than to say something good.
Keep the candidates focused. The group participants believed that during an election an essential role of the news media was to keep candidates focused on the public s concerns. A Tallahassee woman put it this way: I would like to see a reporter who is interviewing a politician who was speaking double-speak just say flat out... Wait a minute. What are you saying? These little sound bites don t really get to the meat of the issues.
People in the groups talked about the news media almost as an election watchdog. A Tallahassee woman said that she looked to the news media to bring issues to the forefront that [candidates] don t want to talk about. She added, Just force them to look at things that they re unwilling to look at. A Los Angeles woman noted that the news media should take this approach with all candidates. She wanted the exact same questions to each candidate. And another Tallahassee woman remarked, Don t let them talk in circles.
But people were just as quick to warn the news media that they wanted journalists to ask different kinds of questions when playing this role. Ask the questions, a Modesto man started to say, but he continued that he did not want interviewers to belabor it to death. He said jokingly, I don t want to hear about it for a month and a half. A Davenport man said about the news media, Sometimes the media get too involved with their questions. They get too technical about where they re going and what specific answer they want, that it doesn t make sense to the general public. Another Davenport man noted that the public itself seemed to have a good sense of what to ask: It gets better when the citizens are asking the questions, because the media just wants to dig up the hot stuff. A Los Angeles man concluded about the news media, Sometimes they ask too many questions.
Let us decide what we think. Just tell us what is happening, don t tell me how to interpret it, a Modesto man exclaimed. Like others in the group discussions, he implored the news media to tell the news straight and then to let people reach their own conclusions. A Jacksonville man put it this way, Report the facts and leave the conclusions to the people.
This was an important point for people, and they were quick to make it. They felt that too much of news coverage was a reflection of reporters own conclusions, rather than about what actually happened. An Orlando man remarked, Don t give me your angle, give me the truth. A Jacksonville man requested of the news media, Present the news truly and accurately. And another man in his group discussion said, Their job is to report the news. He continued, Let us make the decisions.
But people were not confident that they would get this kind of news coverage in the upcoming election. Rather they believed the coverage would driven by dirt, gossip, and sensationalism.
They were frustrated that the news media seem driven by trivia, instead of people s real concerns and lives. They use dirt to hide the real issues, a Miami man asserted. All they do is bring out each other s dirty laundry, and they do it because they want people to watch their station. They do it for the ratings, a frustrated Modesto woman remarked. When talking about such media coverage, a Los Angeles woman complained, They re... spending all their time trying to ... titillate the public. A Tampa woman reached this conclusion: The media seems to be like a trash magazine.
Participants said that news media too often had crossed the line of relevance and appropriateness in their coverage. Indeed, a Claremont woman said of the news media, They re going too far! When thinking about how candidates and public officials were covered, an Orlando woman asked, What does their private life have to do with it, unless they re an axe murderer or something. A Jacksonville man put it this way: I want to know if my president was involved in shipping cocaine... involved in land fraud, or...some kind of real estate swindle. He then continued, But I don t want to know if my president likes having his butt tickled with a long feather. And another Orlando woman remarked, If they re going to go in the office and do what they say they re going to do... I don t care if he had three wives.
Many people in the discussions said part of the problem with news coverage was the blurring of the distinction between hard news and entertainment. Here was what one Des Moines woman had to say. It seems like there are contests now between the different networks to provide the best coverage and make it sound like it s almost like an entertainment event. She then asserted: Just tell us the way it is. And a Jacksonville man drew this comparison between tabloid publications and other news media. There is a difference in media, he started to say. The National Enquirer is a rag that prints lies...If you want to buy the information and read it, fine. But it s not reliable.
People in these discussion groups argued that the news media have lost their sense of what the truth is that coverage too often lacks accuracy, that it fails to reflect how things really are. It s more than just selling papers...They have a moral responsibility to the people of the United States to write the truth and not just fiction, remarked a San Francisco man.
Throughout the conversations, participants said that the news media twist and turn things and in the process lose the essence of their stories. Listen to this Jacksonville man: If you want to bring out some points about a specific person s character, bring them out as they are. But he continued, Don t turn them, don t twist them around. Don t tell me the man that walked on water couldn t swim. Or consider this point made by a woman in the same discussion group. If you re going to talk about what he did wrong, okay, talk about it. But give an accurate picture. She continued, Go ahead and give it exactly as it is and not...taint it to make it sensational for your newspaper.
People said that in order for news coverage to improve, it would have to be more reflective of reality. It s getting to a point where issues are just simply a no or a yes, observed a Tampa woman. Yet she went on to say that on many issues, It s not simply...black and white you ve got a lot of gray. A Jacksonville man reported that when too much sensationalism occurs, things get taken out of context too much. And a Davenport woman said that she was looking to the news media for an accurate portrayal of candidates. If they would honestly follow the campaigns and speeches...[and] not give like a 15-second blurb on something that does not portray the candidate honestly.
Group participants said, as did a Tampa man, that they wanted the news media to report the news, not make the news. A Jacksonville man said, There s a lot of important news that they re ignoring. And another Jacksonville man accurately summed up the sentiments and frustrations of many people in the group discussions. They lost the idea of what they were there for, he said. They ve lost what the truth is.
Many citizens asserted that current news coverage made them throw up their hands and walk away from the coverage and the political process. When it goes on and on and on, you just get so tired of hearing about it that you just don t care anymore, a Mason City woman noted. I turn a lot of it off because I get sick of it, a Laconia woman remarked. She added, We re just oversaturated.
The notion that news coverage was overwhelming people was a consistent theme from group to group. People get so burned out, a Davenport man said, they don t want to watch anymore. And another Davenport man made this observation: The way the media has covered the O.J. trial is the same way they cover politics. He then explained: oversaturation of a dead point. The result of such coverage, according to a Nashua man, is that the media boils things right out of the water.
Participants argued that news decisions are cynically based on profit motives. They do it for the ratings, a Modesto woman argued. A Davenport man said that the media act this way because, The media goes for their point system on whatever they do. And recall people who made such comments as they want the real issues covered, not the newspaper- selling issues.
People said that they were turning away from the news media because, as one Los Angeles woman put it, The media is killing us.
Nobody s interested in the good of the plain old public anymore, a Los Angeles woman said. This discussion participant and others argued that politics is now driven by politicians who are so totally obsessed with winning elections and pursuing personal gain that they have lost sight of their public responsibility.
Despite recent efforts to connect with the public, leaders are becoming more and more separated from them, people said. The lives of political leaders are protected from the daily pressures and fears and concerns that most Americans experience.
The result of the current political situation was not only a leadership vacuum, people said, but the creation of political conditions that actually prevent the nation from moving forward.
The depth of frustration exposed was profound. People believed that politics was not intended to work this way that things have gone too far, that America is unable to deal with its shifting economy and disintegrating families and values. This frustration seemed lodged within individuals, and is part of the collective public story we heard.
Americans yearn for leadership. As a Tampa woman suggested, The United States is at a point where they re looking for some strong leadership. People said they wanted leaders whom they see as real in their approach to politics leaders who take the time to listen to citizens and learn from them, who believe what they say, and who do what they promise. Here were the elements of leadership people most often discussed.
Truly understand how Americans live. None of them give a damn about what s going on with the people, an Orlando man argued. And a Nashua man said, Career politicians have lost touch with what s going on. People said that they wanted leaders who understand how Americans live, the challenges they face, their needs and dreams. But the discussion participants stated that they have the exact opposite today. They don t represent us, a Jacksonville man complained. They don t have a clue as to what we re up against as working people.
People wanted for more than leaders who merely gauge the public s attitudes. [Politicians] don t have an understanding of real life anymore, a Nashua woman asserted. They re citizens of Washington, D.C. and the life and the issues of that area. And a Claremont man said, The government...is losing touch with the average person. He continued, The people in Washington don t know ...how best to change Claremont An Orlando woman captured people s sentiments when she said, We want somebody who s just like the rest of us.
In thinking about what needs to be done, a San Diego woman made this suggestion: Get back down to where the average person is. Get back to where everything starts. A Mason City woman put it this way, Make them live for a year on our income. A Davenport woman said that if politicians did walk in the shoes of ordinary people, they would be better representatives If they could live [here] for one day, then they would understand where we re coming from. Because they ve got bodyguards, they ve got limousines, they ve got fancy restaurants they don t know what it s like in the real world. They live in their world. And a Nashua man, echoing the views of many group participants, said: People are suspect of politicians with long terms today because of the fact that they haven t lived a lean life.
Articulate a clear vision. People said they wanted leaders who would articulate a vision for the future and spell out how the nation could fulfill it. I d like to hear them say they have a program, and a vision to do those things...they re gonna do, a Tampa man noted.
But people said that to embark on this kind of leadership would require leaders to change their approach to politics. I would like to see them eliminate the mudslinging and just get down to the issues, a Davenport man said. And a Jacksonville woman noted that such leadership would demand that leaders focus on what you believe, and not what the other person did. Indeed, a Des Moines woman remarked that she wanted politicians who were driven by their belief and their vision. She said that they should, share that vision rather than slamming the other person.
Stick by their convictions. Nobody will take a stand on their agenda anymore, a Davenport man told us. People said that they wanted leaders who know what they believe in and who will stick by their beliefs. A politics of expediency was roundly criticized. One Orlando man put it this way when talking about leadership. You want him to vote because he feels he s doing the right thing. And a Laconia man said, They should stick to their conscience.
People asserted that they did not want leaders switching sides of the fence just to get election votes. A Davenport man said, They re jumping the fence a lot. They go from one side to the other just to please people and to get everybody on their side, when they should just run straight down the line and take what comes. A Miami woman made this observation: In front of a women s group they re very likely to speak pro-choice. If they speak in front of a Catholic organization, they re going to modify their stance. And a Tampa woman said she hoped for the following: I don t want to sit and listen to someone jump up and down and say the most popular thing on the platform...I want to hear some real honest efforts and beliefs.
Have the guts to tell it like it is. Easy answers were not achieved, a Laconia man observed about past attempts to address people s concerns, because there are none. People said that they wanted leaders who leveled with them about the nation s challenges. A Claremont woman remarked, when talking about America s challenges, The answers are very difficult. She wondered, I don t know how they can make the promises. And a Laconia man stated that he was tired of leaders sugarcoating their words. You hear the same old rhetoric every year and every week, he said. It sure would be refreshing if they tell the truth.
People said that they sought leaders who have the guts to give them the straight story. A Des Moines man put it this way. I would like to see the candidates get in front of a group of regular people, without their speech writers, or teleprompters, or a microphone in their ear with somebody in the back room telling them what to say and just talk to people. And a Mason City man complained, So many candidates waiver every time they can... trying not to make this person mad over here. What does he want instead? I would just like to see candidates shoot straightforward.
Follow through and show results. The adage goes, The proof is in the pudding. People wanted more than straight talk from their political leaders; they were looking for action too. Listening and doing something are two totally different things, a Des Moines man pointed out. But an Orlando man complained, We re not seeing any results.
The participants said that leaders must listen to citizens, speak their minds, and then follow through and demonstrate results. We also want it to happen. said a Los Angeles woman. We don t just want to hear it. A Davenport man stated that people wanted to see what s getting done on their concerns. And a Tampa man ventured this thought: As long as people see some action, they don t mind spending the money.
Expect respect, not re-election. For many people, leaders should not expect to be elected or re-elected simply because they articulated a vision and stuck by their convictions. Instead, people said that such efforts would earn leaders the respect of people; then voters would still need to decide if they agreed enough with the leaders to vote for them. A Mason City man talked about this notion in the following way. I would like to see a candidate that would just simply state: I know everybody is not going to agree with me. If you don t agree with me, don t vote for me. But if you vote for me, I m going to try to do exactly this.
This view was echoed by a man from San Francisco who said, I want to hear a candidate say... this is what needs to be done... and if that means that I have to suffer the repercussions for that ... if I don t get a second term, it doesn t matter. I m going to do what s right and follow through on it. And, speaking hypothetically about a candidate, a Davenport woman stated: If he could just make up his mind and say, This is the way it s gonna be. You can either vote with me or not. Then I think it would be a lot better.
During the group discussions, participants were asked if since the 1992 elections they felt that their leaders were doing a better job of making sense of their concerns. After all, just before and then after the 92 election, there was an explosion in the use of town meetings, focus groups, fax polls, and other mediums to gauge the public s attitudes. Did people believe that these efforts demonstrated the kind of leadership people said that they were seeking?
Across the fifteen conversations, the answer was a resounding no. People said leaders were not genuinely trying to understand people s concerns and to factor those concerns into their own thinking rather they used what they heard to manipulate the public. Consider this point made by a Claremont woman: Are they listening to us because they really care what we think about, or because they want our vote? A Laconia woman said They hear what they want to hear. And a Jacksonville woman asserted, They re listening, but they re not paying any attention.
Many people argued that politicians use polling numbers merely to buttress their own positions. Listen to this Orlando man and how suspicious he has become of leaders efforts to listen to the public. You could give me a poll and tell me how you wanted it answered, I could probably call the right people and get the answer just like you wanted.
Despite all the listening efforts, people asserted that too many leaders simply did not understand how people live and about their real concerns. They really don t get a broad- based understanding of where the people are at, a Nashua man commented. And recall this statement by another Nashua man. They don t have an understanding of real life anymore. A Modesto man, like many group participants, could not envision leaders who would want to know what people truly think. A politician actually spend money to try to find out what people want? Get real.
At a time when people are looking for leaders to demonstrate vision and conviction, they said that instead they get shallow hot button politics. Participants asserted that single words or phrases are used in politics to incite people and often do. Here was what one Tampa man said: There are some buzz words...that...scare the shit out of me. And a Los Angeles woman made this observation about politicians who practiced hot-button politics: They re trying to stir us up.
In the West Coast conversations, participants sought to vent their frustration about recent issues in the news that they viewed as hot-button politics. A San Francisco man talking about how Governor Pete Wilson had focused on the immigration issue said, It s not an issue, it s a red herring. He went on to say, It s an issue that Wilson created. Another San Francisco man commented, These are all red herrings about foreign aid and immigration and all this stuff.
People in the groups said hot-button politics hold little meaning to them. One Los Angeles woman said, These are just buzz words. She continued, Family values yes it yanks everybody s chain... and it has no meaning. And a Los Angeles man commented,
Morals is a buzz word...It gets everybody riled up. Further, a Laconia man said that candidates focus on the emotional issues that catch people's minds temporarily... But he continued, I'd like to see them talk about the issues that affect me.
A Tallahassee man suggested that this kind of politics makes him wonder what a politician really cares about. We have no idea if this politician actually cares about the topic or is just using it. And another man in that group, speaking about this kind of hot-button politics, said the following: It seems to have led to a rule by rhetoric leadership by individuals who hate-monger, who push intolerance, who push social division as a political agenda. This happens...on both sides of the political spectrum.
People in the discussions asserted that the influence of money has undermined their belief in the fundamental integrity of American politics. They said too many officials used politics for personal financial gain, and have lost sight of the reasons for going into public life. The people who are going into politics are not for the people. They re for themselves, a Jacksonville man said. They re there for the good life and the good pensions and stuff like that. Argued a Modesto man, People who go into government service... They re doing it out of greed, to feather their nest.
Perhaps even more troubling to people was the belief that leaders seemed more in tune with the needs of monied interests, than the common interest. The individual is no longer represented. It s whoever has got the most money, said a Laconia man. And an Orlando man observed, The only people who get presidential candidates these days are the people who can meet him in the smaller setting. But he said, The only smaller settings are the big dollar fund raisers. And another Orlando man exclaimed with anger in his voice: Screw these $500 a plate dinners...We need...everyone of those candidates out at Fleet People s Park or Lake Keola so we can go down there and tell them what we think for free.
People said that the sheer amount of money needed to run for office made it nearly impossible for average people to get involved the very individuals who would understand the concerns and dreams of Americans. In order to get involved in politics, in order to run for office, you have to be in the certain tax bracket, a Tampa woman said, you ve got to be dealing with corporate America. That is the same corporate America many participants said did not care about their future as workers. Indeed, participants argued that ordinary people cannot afford to run for office. A Nashua man put it this way: It s really hard for somebody new to run because they have to build up such an incredible financial base.
In the Orlando conversation, a woman raised this hope: We want somebody out there to help not to fleece us, and rake in the money, and put it in his back pocket.
People talked about their political leaders as if they were engaged in a kind of game of charades pretending to hide who they really were. A San Francisco man summed up many people s thinking when he noted, They re going to say and do whatever they need to get the job. A frustrated Davenport man said, We re busting our butts trying to make ends meet, and here these upper-income politicians are gloating around and more or less blowing hot air towards us. He continued, People are just getting fed up with it. And a Laconia woman remarked, They re saying what they think the people want to hear to get elected, not what they really intend to do.
What is more, people said that too often, too many politicians blatantly break their promises. They say what we want to hear so that they can get elected, and then they do what they damn well please when they get in office, a Modesto man angrily suggested. When we give them the OK, then they come up with something else and they fool us, observed a Miami man. And an Orlando woman said she had basically given up on politicians. You don t care. Because they re going to do what they want to do anyhow. And you re gonna suffer. To a Los Angeles man, this situation meant the following: We re voting on one thing, and getting another.
People asserted that their elected officials seem focused only on winning elections. [Politicians will] put their finger out and say, Okay, what s the latest poll? and the only thing they re concerned about is being re-elected, said a Davenport woman. And a fed-up woman from the same group argued that during campaigns there were, No truths coming out. She went on to say, Everybody [is] worried about how they can damage their opponent instead of worrying about how they can actually do some good for people.
The 92 election cycle and then the 94 season was marked by citizens
lashing out at a political system that they said was spinning out of
control. People expressed their anger through broad-brush strokes of
condemnation seemingly blaming everyone but themselves.
That has changed. Now, as the 96 election cycle begins, citizens in these fifteen
discussion groups repeatedly said that they themselves were failing to fulfill their
responsibilities in the political process. They saw themselves as significant contributors to
America s political ills.
Sharing the Blame
We ignore the role that we play, a Tampa man asserted. The participants in these
conversations said that they were as much to blame for the current situation in America as
anyone or anything else. We get the government we deserve, a Des Moines man concluded.
And a Miami man, referring to politicians and journalists who have failed to illuminate the
issues that are important to people, said of himself and his fellow citizens, Nobody s standing
up here and saying, Hey, wait a minute! What about the real issues.
Group participants said too many citizens have assumed the role of spectators in the
political process watching events unfold before them, blaming others for America s
troubles. We ve all gotten so forgiving, said a Mason City woman. We overlook so many
things that happen. We condone all this. A Modesto man captured many people s feelings
across the groups. There s an old saying, he began, when you point a finger at somebody
else there s three more pointing right back at you. He said, A lot of the problem goes right
back to the people. We like to sit and complain, but we don t do anything about it.
Playing a Greater Role
It will only change if we make it change, argued a Davenport man. While people
said they are daunted by the range of challenges involved in regaining control of the political
process, they believed they must become more active if America is to move ahead.
Everybody needs to get involved. I don t think it s a case of where we can sit back
and just let somebody else do it anymore, a Tampa woman said. We could make up so
much more of the voice if we chose to be interested, so that the lobbyists would just be a little
squeak, a Des Moines man argued. People should get involved, a Tallahassee woman
urged. You can t fight a battle from the outside.
Assume greater responsibility for the future. People believed that they must assume
more responsibility for taking action if the country is to address its challenges. This theme of
personal responsibility ran throughout the conversations. As one Jacksonville woman pointed
out, The responsibility has to start with [the] individual. A Davenport woman remarked,
You ve got to get more people that want to get involved in what s going on. And a Tampa
woman said, The government takes over a particular problem...and they hang onto it and
they keep funding it...It almost becomes a crutch.
Some people said that more people are starting to assume greater responsibility.
Consider this point made by a Claremont woman. I ve seen some of the town meetings
some of the people, some of the questions they ve been asking, she said. You can tell
there s more of a concern. People are getting more involved. And a Tampa man said that no
amount of money could substitute for more people taking greater responsibility for the future.
If you don t take an interest in what s going on and try to do something about it, you can
throw all the money in the world at it you re not gonna see any results.
Become better informed. Group participants said that Americans must become much
better informed if they are to participate more. People don t make their own judgments all
the time, a Tampa man said, suggesting that too often people merely accepted on face value
what they read or heard. And a Des Moines woman confessed, It s my own fault for not
going out and making an effort to find out who is for and against what. And a Jacksonville
woman noted, We don t take the time to read.
But becoming better informed will take hard work. There s a lot of garbage out
there, pointed out a Davenport man. Unfortunately, you ve got to be able to sift the chaff
from the wheat and figure it out. The only way you re going to do it is to be active, to listen
to what s happening. Indeed, a San Francisco man asserted, We need to invest the time to
actually look at things. And a Jacksonville woman said that becoming better informed would
take people talking more. There s got to be healthy banter in order to come up with anything
that s a good solution for the country.
Take voting seriously. Throughout the conversations, people said that if the nation is to
correct its course, then many Americans must reassume their right and responsibility to vote.
Here was how a Los Angeles man put it: We re the big democracy. We re supposed to be
voting, voting, voting. He then continued, These people are dying in other countries just
for the sheer pleasure of voting, and we just sit there and say, Oh no, not today. A Mason
City man implored, More people should be voting. And a Los Angeles man remarked,
We need to get more people involved in voting.
People argued that voting and especially casting an informed vote was part of what
it means to be a citizen in America. A Jacksonville man said the bottom line was: You
should be a responsible enough citizen to at least be abreast of what s going on...and vote.
Start to work together. People pulling together for a change instead of fighting each
other, was how a Davenport woman put it when talking about the kind of involvement people
needed to embrace. And a man from that group said, The public has to do something...We
can t just sit here and talk about it and talk about it...and forget about it. You ve got to take
some action somewhere down the line. But a San Francisco man said that taking action would
not be easy. The issues are hard issues....The problem is that they are so hard...it s like
everybody s out for themselves.
Throughout the conversations, participants said that key to improving America s future
was for people to start working together. Let s try to get together and do something, said a
Tampa man. We look for somebody else to change things, a Miami man started to say.
We re the ones who are supposed to change things. And in Orlando, a man said about
America s future, It s our responsibility to watch out for each other. A Mason City woman
went so far as to say: If we can get everybody pulling together, I think the future looks pretty
good.
Believe in ourselves again. People said that despite the negative view they often
expressed about the nation, there was much for Americans to believe in about themselves. A
Laconia woman, speaking about the sense of patriotism in America, said, It s there, more
than we can see. A Claremont woman noted, No other country is respected or looked up to
as much as the United States.
Indeed, for the people in these discussion groups, patriotism was not a empty label. It
referred to people s love of country, respect for others, desire to pull together for the future.
A Nashua man said, People still like to help each other out. And a Des Moines man
suggested, We should all look out for each other. A Davenport woman added that some
good things were already starting to happen. There are people out there trying to better
things. And an Orlando woman added, People really do care, even when we say we don t.
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