by Elizabeth Dovell
Group: Elizabeth Dovell, Esmé Ellis, Maeve Dwyer
On Election Night in Grand Central Station, sentiments regarding the day's election and its issues fluctuate from patron to patron. No matter how they cast their ballots, our small sampling of voters appear disillusioned with the United States government as it stands today. In response to questions about foreign policy issues in the midterm elections, voters seem most concerned with Iran’s nuclear program and whether the elections would produce progress. Our sampling is not an anomaly: a study published on October 24 of this year showed that, when polled over the last few years on the subject, a substantial amount of Americans understand the threat of a nuclear Iran.
When it comes to our question of what the U.S. should do concerning Iran's nuclear program, interviewees express concern about the subject, but none of them identify any policy initiatives the U.S. should take. When it comes to whether the midterm elections are a true catalyst for change, opinions are mixed.
"I am hugely disappointed with the projected outcomes of this particular election," says Patrick, who declined to give his surname.
Commuter Bill Alletzhauser responds enthusiastically to the question of whether the day's election would produce progress: “I hope so, yes, I hope so. Man, we’ve had enough of President Obama. He just didn’t work out.” When asked whether the United States is overextending its global presence, Alletzhauser answers that the country is not, and responds enthusiastically when asked what the U.S. should do about Iran’s nuclear program. “Stop. Just go in and grab it. They’re out of control.” He waves off a query into his opinion on whether China is causing economic problems for the U.S., citing outsourcing as the reason: “They need us more than we need them.”
Another customer of the bustling station, Donald Zuckert, feels similarly that Iran is a problem, but does not think the U.S. is too involved in global affairs. “I think there’s nothing to be done [about Iran’s nuclear program]. Nuclear capability to going to spread inevitably, probably to Pakistan.” When asked his opinion on China’s economy possibly being a threat, Zuckert responds with a resolute “No.” Zuckert also doubts that any real progress will be made on Tuesday towards resolving any of these issues because “the two parties are so far apart.”
Nineteen-year-old Rebecca Ma views Iran as a threat, and believes that the U.S. too interfering. Ma says the election “would [be a catalyst for change], but I don’t think there’s enough people voting, enough awareness being raised.” Another traveler, Jesse Hutchinson, expresses a little more optimism than most of the interviewees, stating his belief that the election would indeed produce progress on the list of foreign policy issues. He believes there will be progress if the U.S. is more active in disarming Iran: “I think we should intervene and stop them.”
Andrea Golst, a Jehovah’s Witness distributing literature in the station, says simply “We don’t believe in armament,” but cannot specify any actions for the U.S. to take. Despite the shared opinion that Iran’s nuclear program is indeed a threat, nobody else we speak with on Tuesday identifies any specific U.S. foreign policy responses-- from either side of the political aisle-- that they want to see implemented.
Really interesting to see how this sampling of voters saw Iran as the most important issue!
ReplyDelete-Joanna
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ReplyDeleteto Joanna: the wording can be misguiding. "In response to questions about foreign policy issues in the midterm elections, voters seem most concerned with Iran’s nuclear program" -- yes, this looks like a telling fact if you suppose they were questioned for half an hour on a whole set of wide-ranging foreign policy issues, but as we are aware, they had to choose between China and Iran. Still, it is interesting for us, because our diamond-sellers chose China unequivocally. (And they were even less able to identify the steps towards Iran that they would like to see taken. Nobody said to us that the U.S. should go in and... well, grab it--whatever it is that they can grab... raw Uranium and Persian scientists.)
ReplyDeleteAndras
I agree with Joanna, Elizabeth- I am not sure that Iran *was* the primary concern of voters in Grand Central. The concern was with domestic politics, and for most of the people I spoke with in the area, if foriegn policy was mentioned, they believed that America had gone too far and ought to back down, or that America's right to overextension was justified, but ultimately these two concepts exist as a side note to the greater societal ill of American domestic policy.
ReplyDeleteHowever, it is an interesting poll to have taken on Iran and the viewpoint presented by the average American who claims awareness of the Iranian issue. Perhaps a mention of those who did not understand American policy towards Iran would also have been helpful, as I spoke with several people at the station who did not know where Iran was, and a couple who called it the country with the president who has the long name. I feel like you and Maeve must have run into a couple of these guys. I also think it's worth reporting, because if it displays a large strata of the potential voting population, then it has impact when written about.
-Esme
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ReplyDeleteAndras- let me clarify. What I meant to convey was the fact that, when asked our two specific questions on country issues (China- economy and Iran-nuclear proliferation), voters were more concerned about the latter. They did not need to choose *between* China and Iran, but in my experience, the interviewees appeared disconcerted on the subject of Iran's nuclear program. In my opinion, this is due to the fact that Iran appears threatening to them. Those I spoke with did not specify any details on the subject (particularly because the issue is somewhat cloaked in mystery for much of the American public. It's not like we get daily surges of information on Iran's nuclear program; we know the minimum of what it is deemed we need to know). Additionally, Our sampling of voters did not elaborate on what specific measures should be taken by the United States to address the issue. They recognize the threat, but the details are a bit murky for their taste. Fear of the unknown is a powerful thing.
ReplyDeleteWhen it came to the China question, I was surprised at how many people simply shrugged.
And Esme- I think that, when presented with two specific country issues, voters latched on to the one that they deemed most threatening. I don't think I implied that Iran was the *most* important issue out of those we presented that day. What I wrote was "In response to questions about foreign policy issues in the midterm elections, voters seem most concerned with Iran’s nuclear program and whether the elections would produce progress." Meaning, out of those two foreign policy issues we brought to the table, those interviewed were more concerned and had more to say about Iran.