MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON

Mr. Smith goes to Washington, Frank Capra's 1939 classic movie starring James Stewart. That's what we dream about. The guys we get back are not the ones we send up to the White House.

They are polished and slick and can only speak from a prepared speech. That's why people don't care about voting. They don't think there is a single person in Washington that cares about them.

Usually if a young and naive person goes to Washington it is not long before you will see a monster return. It's a struggle between good and evil. When we were kids, we loved the war movies, Frances the talking mule , Bob Hope and the Uso . We looked up to politicians and believed everything they said.

We were so patriotic and loved the meaning of America. In those times, if a politician said they were going to do something, they did it. We had buses with loudspeakers telling people to come out for a ride to vote. We would canvass the streets for our candidate.