NORTHUMBERLAND -- The first election Jim Freeman can remember was in 1920, when his father ran for a county commissioner post in Canada.
He lost.
Since then, the 94-year-old has seen politics change throughout the years, especially dealing with campaigns and elections.
"The campaign is too long," he said of contemporary presidential races.
Others at Nottingham Village Retirement Center in Point Township, Northumberland County, agreed on Wednesday.
"When I was younger, speeches were done on Labor Day," said Ted Belitsa, 90. "Politics and campaigns were done right up to the election. Now, it's done anytime someone has money and wants to run. They start early."
Ned Clark, 75, said he would like to see campaigns last six months before the election.
"We used to have statesmen, not politicians," he said. "I'd like to see the availability to people less wealthy so they could strive to be leaders."
The men have all been following the national campaigns.
When it comes down to Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama, Freeman thinks it will all depend on vice presidents.
Belitsa has some thoughts, as well.
"Hillary was in the Senate for some time," he said. "She is entrenched with ideas. She says she will do new things, but she might go back to her old ways. Barack has a lot of ideas but Congress will do what they want to, not him."
Vic DeSantis, 84, could sum his opinion up in three words: It stinks. Period.
"It's all about money," he said. "Money, money, money. I think it's a joke, but that's my personal opinion."
DeSantis said the first election he can remember was when he was 7 and in school.
"Then they had pretty good guys running for office," he said.
Now, the men agreed it seems to be all about finding the worst features to focus on.
"When we were young, we looked up to them. They were special," Clark said. "Today, we wonder where did they come from? They are looked at as evil. They take the finest-looking specimen and find dirt and talk about that. They don't look at the 98 good things about him."
Belitsa remembers his first time voting in the 1940 election of Wendell L. Willkie and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
"(Roosevelt) was running for the third term," he recalled. "I wouldn't vote for a third term. ... Wendell was fresh. He had new ideas."
He said he never expected to see a woman running for president.
Freeman, however, did.
"Other countries have women who have been successful when running," he said, mentioning former Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher of Britain and Golda Meir of Israel. "If they can do it, maybe one of our women can do it."
Luke Kauffman, 67, said it will be interesting to see how the elections turn out.
"The more I learn about politics," he said, "the more cynical I become."
n E-mail comments to gmorton@dailyitem.com.
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