The war and bringing the nation together are two of the top issues for a small but informed group of people who came together Tuesday afternoon to discuss this year’s presidential race.
Several questions were presented to the group during the panel discussion. Panel members included Emporians Sarah Malcolm, Victor Rodriguez and Andrew Houchins, who are all in their 30s and 40s.
One of the questions asked the group to list their top five issues in order of importance. This proved hard for the group, as there were several issues of concern and they had a hard time narrowing them.
“I think it would be easier to alphabetize them,” Rodriguez said as he looked at his list, which consisted of economy, health care, immigration and war.
Houchins brought up quality of life.
“I have troubles trying to rank what is important,” he said. “Gas? Yeah. People dying? Yeah. The economy. People having health care, that kind of thing.”
Malcolm threw in her comments.
“I think I would agree with that,” she said. “They talk about how every generation has always worked for their children to have it better and sometimes I worry that my own children are going to have it harder than I did and that’s not going to continue on.”
Malcolm said one of the things she is concerned about is foreign policy.
“I feel like America has lost its place as far as the other nations are looking to,” she said. “I think that’s something that the next president is really going to have to build a lot of fences that have been broken down over the years.”
A long discussion over the war then ensued as Malcolm expressed concern over America’s image abroad.
“I know I have relatives that are from that World War II generation,” she said. “That was a time when we went to war and were seen as the good guys coming in ... I feel like it’s completely the opposite. We are portrayed as the occupiers.”
As a mother of two boys, Malcolm said it concerns her that troops could occupy Iraq for many years to come.
“I would have never imagined that my sons, when they reach adulthood, may have to face having to go deal with this. That really frightens me,” she said.
The group was asked to talk about how much influence a president has on the country — if any at all.
“I think the president does have an effect,” Houchins said. “It could be positive and it could be negative. You can’t be president and not have an effect on our daily lives. He or she can veto bills ...”
Malcolm is still holding out hope that she’ll get to experience an era similar to the John F. Kennedy era or the Ronald Reagan era, where people remember the era as being great.
“I like to think I’m an idealist,” she said. “You hear people talk about Reagan and the 1980s and how inspiring it was. I haven’t experienced that in my life and I hope it’s still possible.”
“A lot of it, too, our attention is more on the war thing,” Rodriguez said. “But back then, there was some war but not as much. It wasn’t as much of an issue for these younger kids.”
If the race were between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Malcolm and Houchins leaned toward Obama while Rodriguez is still on the fence a bit.
“I will be very honest,” Malcolm said. “I’ve been very inspired for Barack Obama. If someone had told me a year ago that there would have been a viable woman president I’d be fully in her corner. But I just think there’s too much of the past with her and I don’t have anything against her personally and I voted for her husband twice ... but I see this as an opportunity to move forward.”
Rodriguez said he thinks Obama is a very good talker, but isn’t sure about his experience.
Malcolm said age is a factor, too. Obama has children the same age as her children and she feels as if he is closer to being in her shoes.
Houchins said he’s leaning toward Obama too.
“His whole thing of ‘yes we can,’” Houchins said. “People make fun of that but the important thing to note is that he is talking about everyone coming together and doing it. ...”
The discussion then quickly turned to whether the nation is ready for the first woman president or the first African American president.
“I hope we are totally past that,” Malcolm said. “I think again generationally I feel like I’ve always been raised in a very empowered environment that we can achieve anything, and I was raised not to judge people on race.”
If the race were between Democrat Obama and Republican John McCain, it would depend on what issues were being talked about.
“I’d vote for Obama but that is because I’m a little bit leery of what John McCain would do,” Houchins said. “McCain has done a lot of good things and I see him as someone who is very honest and forthright. ...”
Malcolm agreed that McCain seems genuine.
“I do think he’s really one of those people who would say, “Look, this is a straight deal, this is what we need to do ...,” she said.
McCain’s policies on the war, however, still make Malcolm leery.
Rodriguez has a slightly different stance.
“The way I felt for McCain is that he might have a better way to get us out of the war,” he said. “Really, that’s the only point. I’d rather go with Obama. It’s time. We need a change and he’s the type of guy that will really gather everybody together.”
Choosing between Democrat Clinton and McCain was a harder choice for the group.
“I think that would be a more difficult choice for me,” Malcolm said. “I’m afraid of just her being seen as she’s a Clinton and not being able to be seen as someone who can bring people together. ...
“When it comes down to policies and issues I’d lean more toward Sen. Clinton,” she said. “McCain frightens me on the war and how long we would be there.”
“I think that’s her strong point, foreign policy,” Rodriguez said.
Houchins agreed.
“It would be a harder decision,” he said. “I do see them very similar in the way they work and what it seems they are projecting ... in the end I would lean to Sen. Clinton.”
The final topic centered around whether the race is focused demographically or on race and gender.
“I think it’s fascinating to look at the demographics,” Malcolm said. “As a woman, I see how other women are voting. Yeah, I think it’ll be interesting to see whether people affiliate with whether it is by gender, race, economics. ...”
Houchins said it seems that all the candidates are crossing demographic lines.
“The latest poll had a lot of females for Obama,” Rodriguez added.
Houchins said it’s time to work together and work out differences.
“We can’t sit here and be in an ideological straightjacket,” he said. “I think that was one thing about Obama that I kind of felt that he has his ideas and his ways of doing things and his attitudes but I don’t feel that he has an ideological straightjacket.”