While President George W. Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry continue to argue over the war in Iraq, the economy, health care, education and who is better qualified to run the country for the next four years, voters will ultimately decide the fate of these men in three weeks.
Both candidates, along with their running mates Vice President Dick Cheney and Sen. John Edwards seem determined to continue the negative campaigning that has inundated and overshadowed this election for the past several months
A recent report by the CIA’s top weapons inspector Charles A. Duelfer has both candidates firing bitter accusations into each other’s camps. The report stated that the former president and dictator of Iraq, Saddam Hussein did not possess weapons of mass destruction as the Bush has suggested.
“[Hussein] retained the knowledge, the materials, the means and the intent to produce weapons of mass destruction,” Bush said. “He could have passed the knowledge on to our terrorists enemies.”
Kerry, meanwhile, believes that the Bush campaign is coming apart at the seams.
“This week has provided definitive evidence [for not re-electing Bush],” Kerry said. He also said that the president was “not being straight with Americans.”
Two weeks ago, 75 percent of ETSU students surveyed were concerned about the weapons of mass destruction and the government’s inability to locate them. That number has now risen to 79 percent.
Meanwhile, nationwide polls continue to indicate that this election is statistically a dead-heat.
In a recent poll conducted by the East Tennessean, only 11 percent of registered student voters say they are still undecided as to which candidate to vote for on Nov. 2.
When asked if they intended to vote in this election, 89 percent of students surveyed said they would.
Student voters had mixed reactions when it came to the war in Iraq. While overall, 52 percent did not feel that the U.S. was justified in going to war in Iraq, 57 percent of the women who responded to the questionnaire said that the U.S. was justified.
When it came to the question of the economy, 60 percent of the students stated that they were not satisfied with the current situation.
The war on terrorism, and the current administration’s handling of the war received a 59 percent approval rating, with women again agreeing more than the men.
Age could indeed be a determining factor in this election, and it may well be the younger generation that decides who will occupy the White House over the next four years. An overwhelming 85 percent of the students questioned were between the ages of 18 and 22.
The East Tennessean again wishes to thank all the students who responded to the recent questionnaire. Special thanks to Dr. Sam McKinstry, professor of political science, who allowed us to the time to poll one of his American Government classes.
The recent sampling did not ask for party affiliation, nor was any student asked to share which candidate they intended to vote for in the up-coming election.

Author