Street Talk [11-4] 

Question: Which presidential candidate do you feel ran the dirtier race and why?

Steven Swiecicki, Miami Beach, real estate analyst, 27

“Bush. He used terrorism as a method of scare tactics and tried to bring the nation to a sense of fear for the purpose of personal gain.”

Justin Phillips, Miami Beach, graduate student, 33

“I’m probably partial, but I think Bush. I think his ads were wrong and slanderous. For instance, he said Kerry and the Democrats wanted to raise taxes, as if the Republicans have never done that before. He’s ridiculous.”

Donna Scharer, Miami Beach, mother, 35

“I think both ran dirty races. It was horrific and I didn’t know what to think. But as President Bush says, it’s about the lesser of two evils. Kerry’s trying to blame the flu vaccine shortage on Bush saying he hired a company with a bad track record to provide the vaccine. It’s totally ridiculous to blame that on Bush.

Beau Beasley, Pembroke Pines, marketing director, 24

“I don’t know, they’re both dirty. That’s why I hate politics. Everybody’s trying to step on top of each other and monopolize different areas. It’s a dirty game and they have to be uglier than their opponent to win.”

Martha Levine, Miami Beach, librarian, 42

“I think they’re pretty equal to tell you the truth. Bush’s campaign bothered me more. He misquoted Kerry and took his opinions out of context. He misrepresented him to everybody else, while Kerry pointed out mistakes that this administration made. He didn’t exaggerate the mistakes and the people of this country would have come to the same conclusion on their own.” 

(photos & interviews by Mario L. Martinez)