The economy, the war, the big election issues

“I think Obama would like to do a Kennedy,” said John Mueller, Woody Hayes Chair of National Security Studies and Professor of Political Science at Ohio State University said during a panelist debate at the Brooking Institute. The panel analyzed the essential aspects that will determine who will be the president of the United States, focusing on the fundamentals–the economy and the war–and which one will play the biggest role in the 2008 election.

According to Mueller, the Iraq war is no longer the number one issue on the agenda. “What Americans want to talk about and think about is domestic,” Mueller said that’s why the economic crisis is going to play a big role in the election outcome. Mueller also said that Americans are still very supportive of the war in Afghanistan, saying as long as there is no bloodshed, no lives taken, no one would care if America stayed in Iraq several years more to come.

Ron Elving, Senior Washington Editor, National Public Radio went for a different angle, introducing a narrative perspective to of the election outcome. According to Elving, people don’t want to know the truth nor the reality about the issues debated in the election, claming that the American people want a story. Elving highlighted that the traditional American voter will be affected by the stories surrounding the presidential candidates. “Which are the more compelling narratives for this election, is it McCain-Palin or is it Obama-Biden?” he said.