(February 19, 2001) Doris Haddock, 91, went out for a walk in Pasadena, Calif. on Jan. 1, 1999 and didn't stop walking until she arrived in Washington D.C. 14 months later.

Haddock, known to many as "Granny D," was out to bring attention to her strong belief that the country is in need of campaign finance reform.

At a Feb. 16 joint hearing of the House Governmental Operations and Veterans Affairs Policy Committee and the Senate Elections Subcommittee, Granny D said reform is needed because it takes "great amounts of money" to win an election in a system that is corrupt.

"We're letting our democracy slip slide, slip slide away," she said.

With two children, eight grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren, Haddock said the best legacy she could leave would be to help turn things around so the nation could get back to being "a true democracy."

On her journey she learned that those who say nationwide low voter turnouts are due to people not caring in politics are off base. She said people told her that they didn't want to, "vote for a bunch of crooks."

"Politicians are not crooks. It's the system that is crooked," she said.

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