Never mind Washington, Main Street has its own problems

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CULPEPER, Va. -- As a lipstick sunset painted the hills of the Piedmont, Joyce Tyree sold tickets to the junior varsity football game at Eastern View High School.It was a Wednesday night game, $5 a head to see the Cyclones play the Cougars of Kettle Run High in Fauquier County. A few parents and grandparents raised their eyebrows at the cost -- same as for varsity games -- but nobody complained. It was worth it to see their boys play.Tyree, a biology teacher who makes a little extra working the box office, ticked off the school's expenses -- game officials, staff, electric bill.Seventy miles away in the White House, President Bush was readying his somber, prime-time address on the economy. Bush wants Tyree and taxpayers everywhere to bail out Wall Street to the tune of $700 billion.I'd driven to Culpeper to see how the bailout and the presidential election were playing on Main Street. To say that people here are skeptical is an understatement."I think the bailout is necessary," said Tyree, a teacher for 21 years. "But do I think I need to foot the bill for it? No. I've got my own economy to worry about."Like other Culpeper County teachers, Tyree received no pay raise this year. Her health insurance premiums jumped $1,000. Not that she's complaining. She's single, loves her job and the students. She feels lucky she has insurance and that her mortgage has a decent, fixed rate. Her commute is only six miles.Washington may worry about a global meltdown, but personal economic factors loom large for voters.Tyree hasn't decided for whom to vote. The teachers unions have endorsed Democrat Barack Obama. Tyree wants to know more about his plans. She doesn't like McCain's school voucher plan and thinks his running mate is inexperienced.In 1960, John F. Kennedy's running mate, Lyndon Johnson, brought his whistle stop campaign train to Culpeper. "The Yellow Rose of Texas" blared and Johnson leaned out the last train car, waving his big "Fort Worth hat.""What," LBJ demanded, "did Dick Nixon ever do for Culpeper?"That kind of colorful campaigning, described by Robert J. Donovan in "Boxing the Kangaroo: A Reporter's Memoir," is gone. And, something else also seems quaintly old fashioned: the idea that a president would -- or even could -- do anything for Culpeper or the average person.Oh, yes, the 2008 campaign trail is littered with promises to eliminate the power of lobbyists and special interests. But the bailout proposal reminded everybody that taxpayers always are left holding the bag.People are resigned to a government that's focused on helping the big guy.Perhaps that hard-eyed realism is another consequence of the Washington sprawl that has changed the local landscape. On Main Street a couple of blocks from the campaign offices for both Barack Obama and John McCain, Hugh Antram keeps the doors open at his computer repair business 76 hours a week. He faces stiff competition from the "big box" stores.Antram used to hire help but now can't afford it. A sign behind the counter reads, "Virginia gun owners, with concealed handgun permits, are welcome here. Criminals, please leave your guns in your vehicle." One of Antram's handguns hangs in a holster from a shelf in back.Antram usually votes Republican. But this year, he's not sure. The economy has him worried. His wife, a school nurse, wants him to vote for Obama.The bailout? "It's the biggest disaster that ever happened, and either way, it's going to get worse," Antram said.At the football game, old friends Steve Jenkins and Raymond Kirkley watched from the sidelines. They used to play ball and now their sons do.Jenkins, a white, conservative Republican who is on city council, is voting for McCain. Democrat Kirkley, who's black and works as a mechanic, is for Obama."As long as my kids are OK, I'm OK," said Kirkley. "All I need is good health. I can eat baloney."He'd like Obama to win, but Kirkley said the economy is in such trouble, he knows the next president won't be able to change anything overnight."That's the way life is now," he said.(Marsha Mercer is Washington bureau chief of Media General News Service. www.mgwashington.com. E-mail mmercer(at)mediageneral.com)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)