They work, they care -- and they're voting

These folks, some voting for the first time in years, are energized because of issues that affect their families.

By ALEX LEARY

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 5, 2000

CRYSTAL RIVER -- Brendalee Combrink, a serious-looking woman with curly brown hair and egg-shaped glasses, is full of big ideas and strong opinions. But when it comes to presidential politics, she lets her children do the talking.

The 33-year-old antiques dealer was washing the dishes one night when her daughter wandered into the family room and spotted a photograph in the newspaper.

"It's the principal," she said, pointing to the smiling white-haired man. "No, Chelsea," corrected her 8-year-old brother, Dane. "That's the president, and he lies."

Combrink, who can remember when kids viewed presidents as role models, is disgusted with what Bill Clinton has brought to her Crystal River home.

"When that comes out of the mouth of babes, that's really sad," she said Friday at Antique Mall on U.S. 19.

Like many people, Combrink associates Vice President Al Gore with the Clinton administration, which has overseen the nation during a period of unprecedented economic prosperity and also one of extraordinary scandal.

When Combrink votes for Texas Gov. George W. Bush on Tuesday, she will do so for her children. Her mother once said, "You are who you hang out with," and Combrink likes the company Bush keeps: Gulf War heroes Colin Powell and Norman Schwarzkopf.

"We need a change, an administration that is going to bring back our family values and morals," Combrink said. "Integrity does count."

Citizens across Citrus County, some who will vote for the first time in years, say they are energized this year because of issues that affect their families.

Rising health care costs, inadequate schools, a neglected military, even morality, were consistently cited as key concerns in interviews this week.

The phrase "working families" has been injected into the campaign rhetoric this year and both Gore and Bush say they would pay close attention to this huge voting bloc, which in some ways has not benefited from the roaring economy of the 1990s.

"Middle-income families are definitely a few dollars ahead of where they were, and they are happy to be there," Jared Bernstein, a labor economist at the Economic Policy Institute recently told the New York Times.

"People are more likely today to hold full-time jobs with health insurance than part-time or temporary work, without benefits. But the stock-market boom has not reached middle-income families in any important way, and while family income is up, so is family debt and hours spent at work."

"The Democrats are right: The working families do fall in between the cracks," said Crystal River resident Cindy Floyd, a 34-year-old mother of four who works as a registered nurse at Citrus Memorial Hospital.

Though she and her husband, a welder, have good jobs, they fear the advances they have made in the past decade could evaporate if the economy takes a plunge. So why mess with a proven formula, asks Floyd. Why not let Al Gore continue the job he has done?

Floyd said she believes Bush's support for vouchers could hurt public schools. While Bush calls for local control of education, Floyd says the federal government should not skirt its responsibility.

She wants more funding for special education and wants school security to become a top priority. Without this attention, she said, politicians "are not just hurting our kids, they're hurting the future."

Judy Cupeto, a single mother of three, is having a hard time choosing a candidate in the presidential race. "I just don't trust them," she said.

A deli clerk at Publix in Crystal River, Cupeto said the $6.75 an hour she earns makes it difficult to support a family and pay the rent. She said she cannot afford health insurance, or prescription drugs, and wants a politician to do something about it.

"They need to lower the prices," said Cupeto, who is 40. "If I make $200 a week, that doesn't leave me with much money for the other things I need."

At a park in Homosassa Thursday, Shaunna Porter watched from the grass as her children played on a slide. Porter, 23, said she will be voting for the first time this year and will choose Bush. "He just seems more moderate, more open."

Porter, whose husband is in the Coast Guard and earns less than $20,000 a year, said she wants a president who will support a strong military and provide a livable wage. Morale is down she said, in large part because of low pay. "We could apply for welfare and get it."

Lecanto resident Robert Canfield knows what it is like to struggle in the military. He was once in the Marine Corps. "When you're first starting off and you're married, it's awful hard."

Canfield said he will vote Republican because he believes Bush will get behind the military. He also likes Bush's plan to let people invest part of their Social Security contributions. "I put it in all my life and I want it to be there in 25 years when I get ready to retire," said Canfield, who is 36 and has two children.

Ted Boske, a father of six children ages 9 to 17, is concerned with the quality of education in Florida. He said some teachers lack basic skills and the schools are overcrowded.

"We're turning out far below average students," said Boske, who lives in Homosassa and manages Save-A-Lot in Crystal River.

Like many people interviewed for this story, Boske, 37, said he is voting for the first time in years. And, like many, he is primarily interested in national affairs.

"It's always been my opinion that my one vote isn't going to matter," he said in between stacking cans of food. "But how can I stand around and complain if I can't take the time to get out there and vote?"

While this year's voter turnout should be high, there are, of course, some people who are indifferent toward the entire process.

Nzinga Wilson, who serves food at Crystal River Primary, said she does not believe her vote will matter. She voted for Clinton in 1992 but gave up on politics after he did not follow through on some of his campaign promises.

On the stump "they always say what they are going to do. And when they get in office they don't do what they say," said Wilson.

That is not to say Wilson does not have needs. Her boisterous 1-year-old son at her hip, the 25-year-old mother said the government holds back her earning power. She wants to work more than 20 hours a week but cannot because she would lose a day care subsidy for Carlos.

"There's a lot of stuff they just aren't working on," Wilson said.

Election news on cable

INVERNESS -- Can't wait to hear the local election results? Adelphia Cable customers can turn to Channel 7 at 7 p.m. Tuesday to hear news and analysis from QPI Productions president Steve Parker and Citrus Times political reporter Jim Ross. Stay tuned through the evening for periodic updates.

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