New Hampshire is among handful of true presidential battleground states. 12 local voters – a mix of Democrats, Republicans and Independents -- got together in Bedford Wednesday for a two-hour focus group on the race for the oval office.
Pollster Peter Hart kicked off the evening by posing a basic question.
"How are thing going in this country?"
The responses amounted to a catalog of woe, and featured descriptions like shaky, off the rails, and terrifying. William Haddad, a 50-year-old software engineer from Litchfield, seemed to speak for many in the group when he talked of the worries he’ll carry into the voting booth.
“Financial crisis, there’s the way foreigners view America; the value of the dollar; the economy; credibility in Washington is down. Out of all the elections I’ve been to this is the most important to me.”
But despite a shared view the McCain/Obama contest could mark a national turning point, there was also a deep distain for the campaign’s tenor, which was called petty, nasty, and deceitful. David Croley is a 42 year old IT worker from Londonderry, who will vote McCain.
“Lipstick on the pig, that’s the first thing. When I saw that, I went ‘ that’s so petty that they would blow that up,’ but that’s where the focus is rather than on the real issues.”
“Everything that I’m hearing from these candidates is more of the same mumbo-jumbo.”
Joan Rondeau is a retired practical nurse from Manchester, who’s voting Obama.
“Vague promises from the past that have never been kept in the past. Let’s deal with the issues; let’s make everything better.”
But what that might entail -- to say nothing of who can best do it -- proved a fraught topic. On the economy, the panel was split -- with a narrow majority favoring Obama.
“I think he’s smart enough to find the right cabinet and to listen to them to actually find the right policy instead of listening to the corporations.”
Tom Hickman is a 40-year-old business consultant who lives in Hollis. Hickman says he admired what he called "the old John McCain," but is now leaning Obama. Like everybody else on the panel, Hickman said he said he expects taxes to rise regardless of who gets elected, though he thinks he’d pay less under the Republican. McCain backer Ryan Melendy of Derry, meanwhile, argued that Obama would doom the nation’s economic competitiveness.
“I think you are going to see an outflow of everything outside of America, because it’s just not feasible to pay for everyone's heath care, and pay all these taxes. It will break the backs of business.”
National security also divided the group,but nobody called the issue their top priority. The panel seemed to agree the Iraq -- that the war is winding down and now primarily a strain on the budget. Pretty much everyone thought John McCain would be a stronger military leader, yet 7 of the 12 also thought he’d might start a war with Russia. Again, Ryan Melendy.
“I think he’s always said Russia is a bully and bullies can’t be tolerated. He’s stated that unequivocally.”
John McCain’s perceived temper was a concern for some. But others said they see him passive and even boring. The view of Obama also had its contradictions. Some said they saw him as being more connected to the lives of average people; others called him elitist. When asked to imagine how the candidates might spend a Sunday afternoon at home, several saw McCain watching football over a pizza; another envisioned Obama tackling NY Times crossword puzzle -- in ink. McCain enjoyed a clear edge on the question of experience, but some saw that as undercut by his selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate. Shannon Foose is an 36-year-old ironworker from Londonderry, who’s a registered independent.
“I’m all about McCain, he’s a vet, but his age and her experience? What if something happens to him? Obama on the other hand, has no experience, so what do you do?
In one of the whitest state in the nation, only one panelist voiced any concern about electing an African-American commander-in-chief. He said would lead to more affirmative action. Others said they would be excited to choose a non-white leader would be exciting. No one, however, confessed any excitement at all about the media, which the group accused of sensationalizing the election, or as one put it, acting like paparazzi. Several of the panelists who remain on the fence -- and 5 of the 12 still were by night’s end -- said they looked forward to the candidate debates, when they could judge their options without a media filter.
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