New Yorkers Feel What It's Like to be President in Washington Square Park

By Paul Bisceglio   "What would be your first action as president?" That's one of several questions that Lori Korchek and Mike Bade asked people seated at the 540-pound replica of President Obama's Oval Office desk that they brought into Washington Square Park on Sunday and Monday. The park was a stop on their tour for "America for President," a project that films everyday Americans' responses to non-partisan political questions, according to a [New York Times article](http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/13/the-presidency-according-to-america/) on the pair. Participants sit behind the faux Resolute Desk and are free to dictate their answers to the country as they please. "What legacy do you want to leave after your first administration?" "What do you think America's values are?" "What kind of world do you want your children to enter after they graduate from high school?" Bade and Korchek told the Times that they hope to release a documentary that combines participants' responses. Their immediate goal, though, they said, was to reengage people with American democracy by encouraging them to vote and to participate in the political process beyond partisan divides. "In the interviews you do, you can't really tell who's conservative and who's not," Korchek told DNAinfo. "Across the spectrum, people have a lot of the same aspirations." The pair is traveling around the country with a film crew and a U-Haul truck. They set up in Hannibal, Mo., in July, and will head to Williamsport, Pa., for the Little League World Series next. See some early edits of their footage [here](http://ec2-107-22-185-62.compute-1.amazonaws.com/projects/912934670/america-for-president-the-documentary/posts/270574).