Interviewed near the American Candidate table on the Downtown Mall, June 21, 2004

George E. Loper [Mr. Murphy] How did you hear about American Candidate?

Manney Murphy I was walking down the Mall ...

GL [laughs] Alright

MM ... on my way to my office ...

GL Where do you work?

MM I'm a consultant.

GL Did somebody approach you, then?

MM Yes. I didn't follow the crowd. I don't normally function that way. Then a wonderful, lovely, delightful young lady walks up to me -- most gentleman are excited that kind of wonderful, delightful, lovely young lady just walks up to you and introduces herself. But she happens to be a candidate. And there are a lot of people out here, so I wasn't threatened by it.

And so I responded and asked her to come in, and she spoke to me and asked me to vote for her, and gave me some of her viewpoints, and thoughts, and even as she -- she talked about the White House, the presidency, and what's going on with the war, and several things that she mentioned that I agree with.

GL What would those things be?

MM Well, I agree that the war is a tragedy. It's a tragedy for all that live in this country, it's a tragedy for those in the middle east, and ... it's a tough situation to be in, but I know we very desperately need to be out of it, in terms of the American war. But having the passion for people that are held hostage to their freedoms, [this] is something that we have to continue fight against. Wherever it's at. And sometimes those situations lead to us having to go on to -- war.

GL And she was not for us being in the war, I take it?

MM No, well, she thinks the war was a problem of how we got there and we got there on the basis of the WMD. And so -- I still believe that they were there. I still believe that the enemy that we were dealing with there, had some very violent intent for this country, and proof of that is what he had done to some of his own people. And so, you know, the presidency's a tough job ...

GL It is ...

MM ... it's a tough job -- and we sit back here and armchair-quarterback, but it's a tough job. It's a tough job for a Republican, it's a tough job for a Democrat, it's a tough job for an Independent -- whoever ends up in that seat, is in a tough job. And is going to be armchair-analyzed by all of us.

GL So did you end up voting for the person that approached you?

MM Yeah, well, she's the only one that approached me. So I ended up voting for her ...

GL Who was that?

MM Her name is Lisa ...

GL OK ...

MM Lisa Witter.

GL I assume that you follow politics, since you've got some opinions. How would you rate Lisa compared to say, Bush or Kerry or other Democratic candidates that ran for ...?

MM I would say she expressed herself so well. You know, you're in a candidate race -- you just try to express your ideas, viewpoints, and platforms. You know, getting there -- is what proves who you are. You understand me, actually executing on the job ...

GL Yeah ...

MM It's a selling job, and she's a wonderful salesman. She's selling herself. I happen to have been in the company of Kerry, on one of his campaign trips this year, and he's out there selling himself. So it's who's the best salesman, and who's the best salesman on the timing of the day that we have to go to vote ...

GL Right, exactly.

MM ... and who's the best salesman up to that point in time. You could be the best salesman today but the events might shift and as events shift you could find yourself ....

GL Sure.

GL Do you want to say, publicly, who you're going to support in the fall, for the presidential election? Or do you want to keep that under wraps?

MM Oh, in the normal ... in everyday ...

GL [laughs]

MM the real one?

GL Yeah.

MM Oh, no -- I'm a Kerry man ...

GL Alright

MM I mean, Kerry's got my vote.

GL OK

MM He's got my vote right now. I mean, now, I'm basically ... I'm buying his platform ... not just idly -- I was actually at a rally. I had a chance to stand and ask him some questions about how he views what's happening in the mid-west -- I used to work for General Motors -- and I know what job loss ... I know what jobs going across -- I used to travel across the border to do work for General Motors in our other plants, so I know what the pain of that is, so I'm buying his platform.

GL What do you think of the American Candidate series as a reality show, and as a series? Do you think it's going to help encourage people to vote? Do you think it's going to confuse people, in terms of what's real and what's not real?

MM I'll have to see the show first ...

GL Alright.

MM ... and make sure they've got a proper disclaimer of exactly what it is ...

GL Exactly

MM ... as entertainment ... Entertainment teaches us. You remember, The Jetsons was a show when we were growing up. We're living The Jetsons now. [nowdays] you [can] go to a machine, push it, out comes [something] you can eat it right away...

GL Yeah

MM ... and you didn't have to cook it and that didn't happen in my Daddy's day. The best they got was something you could pull and get a little Coke out of or something.

GL Yeah

MM But now they've got a machine you can go up to it and get a whole dinner.

GL So you do see it as educational?

MM I see it as educational … the show could project where we're at in the future .... Reality shows are where we're at right now. Everybody's doing them.

GL Is there anything else you want to say?

MM God Bless America!