ON DEADLINE: Washingtonians, others see 2 cities

It is the best of towns, it is the worst of towns. It holds the wisdom of ages, it spews no end of foolishness. To many it is a place of belief, to others a den of cynicism.

Washington in spring is hope. Washington in election season is despair.

When the leaves turn, America is treated to denunciations of the "mess in Washington," from politicians around the country, whose goal is to work here.

The drumbeat this fall is no different:

- "We're the ones that will change Washington." John McCain.

- "We are going to change the way Washington works." Barack Obama.

- "Washington is broken." McCain ad.

- "No kidding. It took him 26 years to figure it out." Obama.

Yet those who come here are usually reluctant to leave.

More than a half-million people live here, and lots more in the 'burbs. They enjoy its museums, restaurants, historic sites, universities, medical institutions.

To hear the candidates talk in the fall, though, you'd never know it's the same place that glows in spring with cherry blossoms and busloads of well-scrubbed youth from around the nation, eager to see how their country works.

Some take away kitschy souvenirs and T-shirts. Others take away an excitement that brings them back years later seeking jobs in hope of making America better.

David Sobelson came here from Michigan in the 1990s, thinking it was a good time for a liberal to work in the city, and he stayed even after Republicans came into power.

"I realized there are a lot more attractions to Washington than just working for the federal government," he said.

Now a legal consultant, Sobelson says anti-Washington political rhetoric "annoys me slightly," but adds that for the most part it runs off his back.

"It's something that people living in Washington kind of get used to after a while," he said. "I recognize that there is an inside the Beltway and outside the Beltway dichotomy. A lot of folks out there don't really trust what happens in Washington."

James Jones, a retired federal executive who moved to Washington in 1953 to go to Howard University, said: "My view is that there are two Washingtons. You have the federal Washington and then you have the residential Washington, and when I hear people bashing Washington, I relate that to the federal sector. People have a right to do that, because their representatives are there."

Charles Wilson, a carpenter who lives in southeast Washington, says he isn't offended by the political talk.

"I would welcome any ideas that could help benefit the city and its population," Wilson said. "What does offend me, and I can't speak for others, is the fact they don't really come out and reach out to and talk to the community. ... They don't try to contact or connect with the real issues of the population."

The anti-Washington talk does annoy Naomi Robinson, a retired postal worker who has lived in the capital for 57 years.

"The people saying that don't know what goes on here. I don't have a clue what they are going to clean up," said Robinson, who moved here from southern Virginia when her late husband got a job with the police department.

"They just want to say something to make people think it's so bad here, but it's not," she said of the politicians. She pointed out that all four of her children went to school in the District of Columbia and all went on to college.

In a way, Anne Theisen, a self-employed bookkeeper in northwest Washington, tends to agree with the critics.

"Personally, as a resident of Washington, and I have heard others say as well, we're probably angrier at Washington (the federal government) than the rest of the country," she said.

She pointed out that the federal government interferes with the affairs of the city even though it doesn't give the community a vote in Congress.

Theisen's husband, Michael Sherman, said he thinks most people "distinguish the metaphor of Washington from the residents of Washington."

"There is a lot of feeling that the national leadership in Washington is different from the day-to-day life in Washington," said Sherman, who works at a public policy organization. "There is a lot of dissatisfaction with the national leaders ourselves."

Of course, Washington isn't perfect: With an estimated 580,000 residents, it's a good-sized city and has problems like most such communities.

Schools, for example, have long been a concern. The city is below average in high school graduates at 77.8 percent of the population, compared with 80.4 percent nationwide.

And there is crime. FBI reports for 2007 show 7,947 violent crimes in Washington, including 181 murders. Among cities of similar populations, Nashville, Tenn., had 8,513 violent crimes and 73 murders; Denver had 3,552 violent crimes and 47 murders; Las Vegas reported 13,641 violent crimes and 119 killings; Louisville, Ky., recorded 4,238 violent crimes and 71 murders; and Seattle had 3,667 violent crimes and 24 killings.

Politically, attacking Washington has long played well outside the Beltway - even before there was a Beltway - the interstate highway that circles the city and, to many, separates Washington from America.

Andrew Jackson was probably the first anti-Washington candidate, and it's a tradition that includes the likes of Theodore Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and more.

"It's usually the out-of-power party that runs against the establishment," said Leroy Dorsey, a professor of communications at Texas A&M University. "It's sort of odd this year, given that the Republican Party is sort of running against itself."

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Randolph E. Schmid lives Washington's Virginia suburbs. He has reported in and on Washington for more than 35 years.