An interview in Westborough, MA
I have been flummoxed about how to approach people, to listen to what they think about the current political situation, and to try to find out why they voted the way they did in 2016. That's the money issue, one of the keys to taking back the House in 2018.
My husband picked up an old, small spiral binder a few weeks ago, and asked me if I could use it. I said "sure" - and into my purse it went.
I decided to ask people one question: "Is the country headed in the right direction - why or why not?"
I pulled into a strip mall, and armed with my little notebook and a pen, screwed up my courage and approached a woman coming out of a local restaurant.
The woman seemed a bit wary when I approached her, but happily gave me her opinions.
She felt that "only time will tell" if the country is headed in the right direction - but it was definitely headed in the wrong direction before the election. Her issues ranged from illegal immigration to education to health care (she sells health care policies). Her parents came from Italy, legally, in 1956. They made sure that they and their children learned English, and her father stressed the importance of speaking proper English. Her opinion boiled down to "There are rules and people should follow them."
As someone who sells health insurance policies, she felt that the current health care system was making things too complicated. She is in favor of giving people vouchers to buy health insurance.
She was most animated about education. I was not surprised to hear her lament how arithmetic and spelling and reading were taught - I had many of the same concerns when my children were young - but I was shocked to hear her say that public education is PURPOSELY bad to keep people down. If people are not educated, the government can do whatever it wants. She is in favor of vouchers for education.
I asked her if she thought that one candidate understood her concerns more than the other. She answered "yes", but did not say which candidate she was referring to. I don't think it was Hillary Clinton. She did volunteer that the country was too divided, and that Congress needs to get its act together. That is something I think I can agree with her on.
I decided to ask people one question: "Is the country headed in the right direction - why or why not?"
I pulled into a strip mall, and armed with my little notebook and a pen, screwed up my courage and approached a woman coming out of a local restaurant.
The woman seemed a bit wary when I approached her, but happily gave me her opinions.
She felt that "only time will tell" if the country is headed in the right direction - but it was definitely headed in the wrong direction before the election. Her issues ranged from illegal immigration to education to health care (she sells health care policies). Her parents came from Italy, legally, in 1956. They made sure that they and their children learned English, and her father stressed the importance of speaking proper English. Her opinion boiled down to "There are rules and people should follow them."
As someone who sells health insurance policies, she felt that the current health care system was making things too complicated. She is in favor of giving people vouchers to buy health insurance.
She was most animated about education. I was not surprised to hear her lament how arithmetic and spelling and reading were taught - I had many of the same concerns when my children were young - but I was shocked to hear her say that public education is PURPOSELY bad to keep people down. If people are not educated, the government can do whatever it wants. She is in favor of vouchers for education.
I asked her if she thought that one candidate understood her concerns more than the other. She answered "yes", but did not say which candidate she was referring to. I don't think it was Hillary Clinton. She did volunteer that the country was too divided, and that Congress needs to get its act together. That is something I think I can agree with her on.
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