Participants in focus groups bucked national trends this week when they talked about their preferences in the upcoming presidential election.
The participants had been chosen randomly from lists of Emporians considered well-informed and likely to vote; party affiliation, or lack of it, was not a consideration in the choices.
Panelists in the high school and college groups, anticipated to support Democrat Barack Obama as a group nationally, favored John McCain overall for his experience in the Senate and as a military officer in wartime.
As if to validate the national prognostication, students in the high school focus group lapsed into cheerleader mode during their session and chanted “Obama, Obama, Obama for yo’ momma!”
College students said they would vote for Hillary Clinton or McCain over Obama.
Members of the mature focus group, predicted as an age group that would support Clinton nationally, cast more ballots for Undecided or Neither than any of the main-line candidates.
The focus groups’ preferences had changed somewhat from online polls conducted by The Gazette earlier, when longer slates of candidates showed Mike Huckabee as the favorite among the Republicans and Obama as the top Democratic candidate.
In an online matchup early this year, Obama garnered 33 percent of the votes followed by John McCain with 24 percent in a four-candidate field that also included Huckabee and Clinton.
Focus groups acknowledged that presidents can and do make a difference in the lives of Americans. Whether those differences are good or bad can depend upon the quality of the people surrounding the president, and the relationships the president develops among members of Congress and leaders of other nations.
The focus group members shared concerns on national issues, with little deviation among the top several issues:
F The U.S. economy
F Health care
F Energy
F Wars (Iraq; Afghanistan/Pakistan)
The younger panelists, however, faced with the prospect of paying for the retirement costs of Baby Boomers, saw Social Security as a major issue. Those in the older focus groups barely mentioned the subject.
The majority of panel members seemed united in their responses to the question of whether voters were ready to elect a woman or an African-American president.
Gender or race should not be an issue, they said; votes should be cast according to qualifications of the candidates.
Having said that, however, they were almost unanimous in their concern that gender or race would be a factor in the minds of other voters.
netloafer (anonymous) says...
The last thing I want to do is upset the "younger" panelists, but I need to set the record straight. I'm a pre-baby boomer, born in the early nineteen forties. I retired a few years ago and get a modest pension from the company I worked for and an even more modest social security check each month. I'm grateful for both.
Social security taxes were deducted from each and every check I ever received while I worked. I never complained about it. I never thought of myself as paying for someone else's retirement while I was working. I believed I was making an investment to the benefit of myself and my fellow citizens. Over the years I put far more into social security than I will ever get out of the plan. That's the truth and I'm okay with that. But I don't like the idea that some "younger" people have that they're paying for mine or anyone else's retirement. Over the years my generation has made as much of an investment in this younger generation as they will for mine in our sunset years.
Speaking for some segment of baby boomers and pre-baby boomers, I just want to set the record straight. We paid our way. We had social security and tax money deducted from our paychecks, We paid in blood in Korea, Vietnam, and other "little skirmishes" around the world. We rebuilt Europe and Japan after WWI. We ducked and covered in the fifties. We signed up in droves to serve in the Peace Corps in the sixties. We marched for equal rights for all Americans. We won the race to the moon by the end of that decade. We fought and won the Cold War against communism.
We did our part! We paid our way!
I realize that my generation didn't get everything right. That's true of any generation, even the "greatest generation" that preceeded mine. But, we did our best. We paid our way.
I also realize that our younger generation has some tough work ahead. The baby-boom generation didn't get all the work done. This country's younger generation has that unfinished work and much more to do. My advice is that they start digging in, like Americans in generations past have always done. A good place to start might be considering the words of John F. Kennedy - "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." If you begin there you'll be well on your way to becoming as great as the generations who served before you. Then, one day when you're sitting by the fire you can tell your grand-children that you too did your part.
March 15, 2008 at 8:54 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
Right on, Netloafer!!! Beautifully spoken. We're called War Babies, by the way, and yes, we paid our own way.
Let me add that a great many of us who have contributed to social security are no longer alive. If you don't have dependent youngsters, the checks stop. A widowed spouse can collect a percentage of your check, but his or her own check stops.
March 15, 2008 at 9:29 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
DCW (anonymous) says...
As a member of the "younger" generation, I just want to say that I am glad to contribute to social security as it saddens me greatly to see my elders struggle so desperately with finances and healthcare in their later years in life. I wish more were available to them. I feel equally proud of the generations that have come before me, as well as my own, particularly with the price our young and older veterans alike are paying today in war. For me, this reality is clear and much more understandable to me, now living in a time of war. I agree that we all pay our own way and I hope that you hear more members of the "younger" generations saying they are thankful for the generations before us, and after, rather than complaints. I applaud you and thank you for all your efforts and sacrifices.
March 15, 2008 at 9:52 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
netloafer (anonymous) says...
DCW
Thanks! You've got a lot of tough work ahead and my generation will do all we can to support your effort!
March 15, 2008 at 10:12 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
Thanks, DCW. Your remarks are much appreciated. We are all blessed by such an attitude.
March 15, 2008 at 10:22 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )