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Voices in Woodway: ‘We’ve got a true health-care crisis’
By the 1:30 p.m. tally, 384 people had come to vote at Precinct 23 at First Baptist Church of Woodway, 13000 Woodway Drive.
Betty Still and Karen Mackinnon told Trib staffer Jeff Osborne that they came out to vote for the presidential primary. “It’s our patriotic duty to vote for the president of the United States,” said Still.
Both women said they voted for John McCain.
“I feel like he has the experience,” Still said. “He served in war and knows a lot more about Iraq and what to do than the other candidates.”
The important issues for Still? “There’s so many things. The number one concern is continuing with the war in Iraq. Number two, to get the economy back on an even keel, to get the dollar value back up where it belongs. I also don’t feel like it’s the government’s responsibility to bail people out for their mistakes and troubles. We also need to do something about our borders. If people come to the United States they need to come legally. We also need to be careful with the welfare system. I believe in an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay.”
Mackinnon said she agreed with Still’s statements.
Donald Varner said his vote went to GOP candidate Mike Huckabee, “He’s the closest candidate we’ve got to a real Christian,” Varner said of the ordained Baptist pastor.
He said he receives e-mails from the Huckabee campaign every day. “I pretty much believe in what he stands for. He’s the closest to what I consider to be presidential material,” Varner said.
The security of our country, including the war in Iraq, Varner said, is important to him.
If Huckabee is elected president, Varner said, “If he holds true to his promises made during the campaign, he’s going to get a lot of support from me and other people than think the way I do.”
Betsy Reeder said she took her 16-year-old daughter with her to the Hillary Clinton and McCain campaign events in Waco, calling it a great experience that showed the contrast between the candidates.
She liked the style of McCain’s townhall meeting format, she said. McCain also got her vote.
Top issues for Reeder are the economy, security and immigration. She emphasized the need for a strong military, adding that her son served in the Army in Korea for two years and she has a daughter who is shipping out to Iraq in July.
Reeder also approves of McCain’s stand on health care.
“We don’t want the government to run it because they can’t even get Social Security right,” she said. “So how are they going to figure out health care?”
She would tell the next president: “We’ve got a true health-care crisis. My husband is a physician and I see it every day. But there’s a better solution than the government running it.”
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