"I'll tell you what's driving it," fires back John Detweiler, who's running for the Corvallis City Council. "We're all out of money."

"There does seem to be more of an acceptance by more people that the reality of spending too much has consequences," adds John Altendorf, another retired engineer.

"But if finances are the motivator," Smith prods, "why would people vote for the Democrats? Or the Republicans?" Both major parties, he argues, have presented themselves as agents of change in the last two elections, even though they really represent the political establishment.

"Obama is definitely one of the most radical presidents we've had so far to the left," says Dan Browning, who works as a caregiver. "There's bound to be a hard backlash to the right."

Childers, an artist and musician, isn't buying that characterization.

"I'm curious," she says. "Why do you think Obama is so far to the left?"

She points to the president's efforts to stabilize the reeling economy by bailing out big corporations.

"If he were really a socialist, I think he would have done things a lot differently."