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mother a bookkeeper -- and she recalls fondly growing up in a central Pennsylvania immigrant town where everyone took care of each other.
• If her parents couldn't afford to buy her a new dress, a neighbor would be ready with a hand-me-down. The Catholic church she grew up in taught her about family values but also about social justice -- "helping your brother," she remembers.
• Ferrandino made her way through college on a scholarship and, now in her 40s, is the principal of a private equity investment firm as well as a single mother and chair of her county Democratic Party. In short, she says: "I understand my fiscal responsibility. I also more fundamentally understand my social responsibility."
• She is an Obama supporter who firmly believes that the two visions offered by the candidates are just as stark as they say they are.
• For her it comes down to this: "It's about: Together, we can create more."
• In Thornton, Colo., Navy veteran Tony Hake sees things far differently. "Americans," he says, "are the type of people who can do well on our own. We don't always need people helping us. You want to help us? Get out of our way."
• Hake, 43, is a self-described staunch conservative who knows that many of his beliefs flow from those of his father, also a military veteran and an ex-Denver police officer.
• But when Hake rails about one of his biggest issues this election year -- government's role in our lives -- there is another reason for it: Two decades ago, when he applied to become a Denver cop like his dad, he was turned down. He says the letter cited "federally mandated hiring requirements."
• "Basically affirmative action," says Hake, who instead spent six years in the Navy
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