ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, August 30, 1996 TAG: 9608300047
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: WHAT THEY'RE SAYING AT . . .
SOURCE: MIKE HUDSON STAFF WRITER
BUT VIEWS FROM attentive voters at the City Market range from satisfaction to a call for more in-depth discussion.
Alice Holland is a Democrat. She has always told her daughter: Spend your money when the Democrats are in office, because it won't go as far when the Republicans are in charge.
Holland, a Franklin County resident who was visiting Roanoke's City Market with her daughter Thursday, had to be prodded a bit to voice her opinions on the current Democratic presidential convention in Chicago.
But she clearly likes what she has been hearing from President Clinton's party.
"One thing I do like is, so far, there's not a lot of mudslinging," she said. "We can degrade each other in private, but let's not do it to get elected. Stick to the issues."
By contrast, she said she believes the Republican convention focused more on personalities than the issues that are important to real people.
Apparently, not many voters have been following the conventions as closely as Holland. Most of the people interviewed in and around the City Market Building at lunchtime Thursday said they've tuned out the current political festivities in Chicago.
"I've not even watching that," one patron said. "I haven't even looked at anything."
"No, I turn it off and go to sleep," said a woman waiting for her food at Burger in the Square inside the Market Building. "It's too boring."
But Milton Taylor, a downtown insurance professional who was eating his lunch in the food court, said he has caught a good part of the convention. From what he has heard, the Democrats seem to be talking middle-of-the-road.
"I think their tone is pretty moderate - what they're saying in terms of economic policies."
With interest rates and unemployment down, and the stock market booming, he said, "it seems like a lot of things the Republicans would normally be doing, the Democrats have already addressed those things."
At the same time, "Some of the real tough issues I haven't really heard. I haven't really heard anything about abortion. I think they're pretty clever staying away from those sorts of issues."
He probably won't vote a straight Democratic or Republican ticket in November, he said, because "each party, in my opinion, has got some extremists in it."
But on balance, the Democrats are "pretty good party." With the good economic news, "I think that they have a lot to celebrate."
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN SPEARMAN/Staff. Milton Taylor, talking about theby CNBDemocratic National Convention on Thursday, says he thinks the
Democrats have addressed many issues being put forth by the GOP.
color. KEYWORDS: POLITICS PRESIDENT