Caring About Issues But Confused By Rhetoric

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, July 24) -- While Democrats and Republicans litter the campaign trail with slogans and sound bites, a new study shows Americans think issues are too complex to be placed in the liberal-to-conservative spectrum.

The nonpartisan National Issues Forums released its report today, compiling the results from hundreds of forums held across the country. Participants discussed broken-up families, the fluctuating economy and America's global presence.

"The conventional wisdom is that the public is apathetic and turned off to politics. That's just not true," John Doble, a member of the research firm, told The Associated Press. "People just feel very disconnected. They don't feel the way issues are presented, from the left and right wings, reflects their own values."

Participants said politicians offer easy answers instead of substantive programs. Those running for office are more drawn to side issues, such as likely GOP nominee Robert Dole's comments on tobacco addiction, than to the matters really important to the people, Doble said.

"That's not where people's day to day concerns, worries, aspirations and fears are," he said. "That's why people tune out."

According to the report, the main areas of concern among Americans include taxes, drugs, media depictions of sex and violence, teen pregnancy and deadbeat dads. Participants fear worse days are ahead for the shrinking middle class, and believed programs such as early education and college financial aid were crucial.

Participants also said the United States had not done anything globally significant in the past 20 years and does not deserve credit for the fall of the Soviet Union. Foreign affairs have been pursued at the expense of needs at home, participants said.

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Caring About Issues But Confused By Rhetoric

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