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In Focus: U.S. Elections 2008

The Changing U.S. Voter by Daniel Gotoff

Buttons urging veterans to vote are displayed at the Vietnam Veterans of America leadership conference in Nashville, Tennessee. © AP Images/Mark Humphrey

Recent election polls reveal the concerns, beliefs, and sentiments of U.S. citizens as they prepare to vote for president in 2008. Voters are expressing anxiety over terrorist threats, pessimism on domestic issues, and an interest in government reform. A Democratic pollster concludes that "the U.S. electorate — often reticent about fundamental change — is now more nervous about staying the course." Daniel Gotoff is a partner with Lake Research Partners in Washington, D.C.

As the 2008 election for president approaches, the U.S. electorate finds itself in a unique — and tumultuous — situation. Polls show that the

This political activist hopes to funnel money into Hispanic voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts in Colorado. © AP Images/ Ed Andrieski

country is engaged in a war that a majority of Americans now oppose. Nearly six years after September 11, 2001, fears of another terrorist attack still permeate the public consciousness. And voters' outlook on a panoply of domestic matters is colored with intensifying concern. This swirl of public discontent takes place against a backdrop of spreading cynicism toward our elected leaders, counterbalanced by a sense that only an institutional power as mighty as the U.S. government is equipped to help the country overcome the challenges it now faces. The shifting political tides over the past several years underscore the point that neither major party is able to boast a governing majority. Furthermore, for the first time in decades neither an incumbent president nor a sitting vice president is running for the highest office in the land.

Amid this turbulence, the U.S. electorate — often reticent about fundamental change — is now more nervous about maintaining the status quo. Currently, polls show only 19 percent of Americans believe the country is headed in the right direction — the lowest in a decade. (In July 1997, 44 percent of Americans felt the country was headed in the right direction and just 40 percent felt it was on the wrong track.) Now, fully 68 percent believe the country is off on the wrong track.

Voters' widespread dissatisfaction has created a palpable desire for change in the United States on three key fronts: improved security abroad and at home, shared prosperity on domestic economic matters, and greater accountability on behalf of the government to the people it intends to serve.

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(Source: The Long Campaign: U.S. Elections 2008, eJournal USA)

The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. government.

Last updated: January 14, 2008