Part I: Introduction
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JIM LEHRER: Hello, I'm Jim Lehrer. Welcome to "By the People," a special project that seeks to bring citizens into the nation's election year dialogue about America in the world. It is not another debate among presidential candidates or even between Democrats and Republicans over which candidate they like most. But rather, the conversations of ordinary Americans about the values and concerns they bring to the foreign policy and economic challenges facing the nation. Last Saturday, local public television stations working with civic groups, organized hit citizens deliberation in ten cities around the nation. Most of the next hour will be spent meeting them and listening to their conversations. Ray Suarez leads the way.

RAY SUAREZ: Jim, about 700 people took part in Saturday's event, from Rochester, New York, to San Diego, California, from Seattle, Washington, to Sarasota, Florida. The issues of security and economics resonated everywhere, but with distinctly local concerns. The twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, for example, are in the midst of Minnesota's largest deployment of national guard troops since World War II, 1,100 in Bosnia alone. Minnesota also happens to be the home of the nation's largest population of Somali immigrants, Muslims, they've been under extra scrutiny since 9/11 after federal authorities accused them of sending millions of dollars to organizations that sponsor terrorism.

OMAR JAMAL, Somali Justice Advocacy Center: There is a huge level of fear. There is a perception that there's a conspiracy against them out there.

TOM HEFFELFINGER, U.S. Attorney: Those are people that we need to ask questions of, but they're also very, very supportive of our needs to protect our country.

Immigration and Security Issues
RAY SUAREZ: Another city struggle well immigration issues and security is San Diego. Mexican immigrants are a vital part of the San Diego workforce and not considered a terror threat. But the long and porous bored we are Mexico is especially difficult to secure. San Diego also has a strong military presence. It's long been known as a navy town, but it's also gaining a reputation for its burgeoning biotech and high-tech industries. It was surprisingly untouched by the economic downturn. That's not the case with Seattle which got pounded, first by the bursting of the tech bubble, which cost more than 21,000 people their jobs, and then by the fallout from 9/11, which dealt a serious blow to the aerospace industry. Commercial airplane giant Boeing cut 35,000 workers from its payroll, pushing the state's unemployment rate to 7 percent, one of the nation's highest.

9/11 also raised serious concerns in Seattle because of its prominent landmarks, open waterways, close proximity to the Canadian border and major military installations. Its port is also a major trade hub. Other cities have similar targets. Baton Rouge has one of the largest oil refineries in the world and shielding these strategic production facilities from attack has become a local security concern.

U.S. Central Command, headquarters of the U.S. operation in Iraq, and Special Operations Command are both located in the Sarasota, Tampa area at McDill Air Force Base. The region is home to many military families. Kearney, Nebraska, with its population of 30,000, has fewer men and women in uniform, but it hasn't been immune to the high cost of war. Early this year, one of its own, Staff Sergeant Dennis Coral was killed near Baghdad.

So who are the people who took time out of their busy schedules to participate in "By the People" deliberations? All of them were chosen at random by the survey research center at the University of California at Berkeley. Jennie Cunningham of Public TV Station KCTS profiles some who answered the call from Seattle.

Job Security
JENNIE CUNNINGHAM: Kathy Keene drives a truck for Boeing, a company that's shed 40,000 jobs in two and a half years. Keene loves Boeing.

KATHY KEENE, Truck Driver: When we build airplanes, it's magic.

JENNIE CUNNINGHAM: But she believes her company and country are being damaged in a rush for short-term profits.

KATHY KEENE: If you send all these jobs overseas, who's going to be buying airplane tickets? How many Wal-mart employees go on holiday to Disneyland by airplane? And how many Wal-mart employees buy brand new cars?

SALLY STOMBERG, Purchasing Agent: We do a lot of sourcing globally....

JENNIE CUNNINGHAM: When she isn't at home in Standwood taking care of her menagerie, Sally Stomberg works for a company that makes pleasure boats. She's a purchasing agent. She buys boat parts from factories around the world. Standberg says global outsourcing is simply a reality of doing business these days.

SALLY STOMBERG: And it's for cost reasons, and any big company I think is going to do that.

War in Iraq
JENNIE CUNNINGHAM: Sally's husband Karl also works for the boat company. But these days, the couple hasn't been talking much about work. Karl's son has been in boot camp. His National Guard unit may be sent to Iraq. Sally and Karl both applaud the bravery of America's soldiers. They disagree about whether America should have invaded Iraq in the first place.

SALLY STOMBERG: President Bush, you know, they claim that it was the weapons of mass destruction, that's what we were going in there for. And the evidence to date is not supporting that.

KARL STOMBERG: We got Saddam. It hasn't ended everything. I think there's still a lot of work to do, but I support our president 100 percent.

Discussing the Issues
JENNIE CUNNINGHAM: Jim Watson calls himself retired. He teaches five days a week at a Hasidic school in Seattle. Watson is not Jewish but he respects the traditions of his pupils and wishes he could promise his students a world without discrimination.

JIM WATSON, Teacher: We have to come together as people. We have to look past our differences and find things we have in common, or we're doomed.

JENNIE CUNNINGHAM: Do you feel that your voice is heard in this government?

RACHEL ALBER, Welder & Artist: No. No. No, absolutely not.

JENNIE CUNNINGHAM: Our government is testing Rachel Alber's mettle. This welder works hard for the money at a sign shop south of Seattle. But this is her passion. She welds works of art in her limited spare time. At 33, Alber still struggles to make ends meet.

RACHEL ALBER: What am I going to do, you know? I make 14 bucks an hour.

JENNIE CUNNINGHAM: Albert says politicians are out of touch with what working Americans really need.

RACHEL ALBER: It's about people having rights, basic rights, having a place to live, having food, having health care. I mean those are three... one, two, three things, you know? It's not a whole big list.

JENNIE CUNNINGHAM: Alber believes there are plenty of people just like her, Americans who are disgusted with politics but still want to be heard.

RACHEL ALBER: You know, stop thinking about ourselves, you know. Think about everybody. It's 2004. We have no room to mess around anymore.

RAY SUAREZ: The delegates to these citizen deliberations were part of a unique local-national project. Community foundations contacted by Yale University's Institution for Social and Policy Studies convened the events, some with a decidedly local flavor.

PATCHWORK BARBERSHOP QUARTET SINGING: We shall say hi neighbor, time to smile and say --

JACK: Hi, I'm jack. I sing base.

BILL: Hi, I'm Bill.

PEEWEE: Hi, I'm Peewee and I'm the lead.

ALAN: And I'm Alan, I sing tenor.

GROUP: Hi hi hi hi

CHANCELLOR DOUG KRISTENSEN, University of Nebraska, Kearney: As you know, we're only one of ten sites across the country that's going to participate in this discussion today. You have a huge responsibility. You are representing rural Nebraska and it's a great opportunity, when people say, "ah, nobody ever listens to what we have to say. We're in the middle of nowhere." Well, we're not. The world is going to listen today.