Teacher Gathers Messages for New President

Dec. 22, 2008— -- If you could send a message to the president, what would it be? In March, B.J. Hill, 32, wanted to find out. He gave up his job teaching English as a second language in Boston to walk across the country and ask Americans what they wanted to tell the next president.

Hill began his 4,200-mile journey at San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, with a notebook and camera in hand to capture the moments in photos and collect people's words for the next commander in chief.

Across the western plains, down to the South and up through the Mid-Atlantic states, Hill walked eight to 12 hours a day, covering about 15 miles, in rain or shine -- through snow or sleet. Traveling through red states and blue states, Hill stopped in local coffee shops and diners, and listened to the problems -- taxes, gas prices, worries about the economy -- affecting all Americans. (Check out his route here)

Around mile 3,900, Hill crossed the Delaware River into New Jersey -- on schedule to make it home by Christmas. Hill has worn down seven pairs of shoes so far. Through his travels, all the locals were curious to know why he was doing this -- why did he make it his mission to bring the people's voices to the next president?

"The short version is ... concerned citizen," he said. "A lot of these politicians, be it gubernatorials, senatorials or presidentials ... when they're campaigning they get off the bus, they shake some hands, they give a speech, they eat an ice-cream cone and then they get on the bus and, you know, you never see them. I wanted to collect these messages in a book format, where the president could keep [them] handy and refer to every once and awhile."

It's not Hill's first walking journey. In 2006, Hill walked across Massachusetts before the gubernatorial elections, collecting messages for the next governor. He met with the new Gov. Duval Patrick and delivered the people's messages. And in 2007, the Massachusetts' native hiked up Route 122 North.

Along his cross-country journey, Hill kept the messages for the next president in three leather-bound journals. The entries are snapshots in time -- fragments of American lives. The big complaint last summer was high gas prices. Now, it has turned to the economy -- a lot of people asking the president to "save my job."

So, what do the messages say? Many comments are sincere and honest: "Mr. President. I did not vote for you, but I will support you."

"Mr. President, Do not expect to win all the time, but don't get discouraged."

Some are sarcastic: "You have one hell of a mess to clean up after Bush and Cheney. I hope they leave some of the furniture."