Boom Times Take Some Of The Passion Out Of Politics In Phila., Few Getting Excited

"Everybody has a life," Tom Grasso explained. "I just got through Christmas, through New Year's. I haven't had time to focus on [the presidential race] yet."

The 33-year-old Detroit native, whose shipping job relocated him to the area, isn't alone in his sentiment. From East Falls to Old City to West Philly, most interviewees admit to being too busy for the mudslinging and political posturing of the pre-convention campaign trail.

"Before the summer, we're going to see the candidates come out with their platforms, but now it is about 'This is what you haven't done. This is what is wrong with your plan,' " complained Scott Mercaldo, 26, of Drexel Hill. "I hate to say it, but I think, in the United States, it's a popularity contest. What's going on right now is pandering."

As candidates focused their political prowess and the power of their pocketbooks on Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, I took an informal Philadelphia poll. The only requirements to vote in my primary: valid ID showing you are over the age of 21 and a willingness to talk about pulling voting levers in a place where the conversation usually centers around pulling pints - the city's bars.

This ballot question wasn't the primary and caucus standard, "Which candidate do you support?" It was more of an essay question: "Is the current campaigning important to you? If not, what is important to you?"

My exit polls showed that the winners are "I don't care - yet" and its running mate, "Because no one is talking about the issues."

But Philadelphians do have issues they care about. "One thing that I am really concerned about is Social Security," Kathleen Didinger, 23, said over a beer in the Irish-themed New Deck Tavern at 34th and Samsom. "For me, being a young person, I will work all my life, and I don't want to see that money get frittered away."

At New Deck, a Guinness advertisement on the exposed brick wall counts down to St. Patrick's Day - not Election Day. Here, a debate about finances focuses on the cost of cable for a semester and the price of illegal access.

Didinger continued, "I feel like the issues are all over the board. It's not just about welfare or health care. I think it is much more broad, and I think that is good."