The Next Big Debate–2012

The Poke-A In Boca will be all about foreign policy….the battle between Obama and Romney will vie for the hearts and minds of the American voter…..we will hear all about Israel, Iran, Arab Spring, etc etc etc…

But the American people, will they be interested?  Here are a few things about foreign policy and the American voter….

  • 41 percent of Americans believe China is the world’s leading economic power, according to a 2012 Pew poll (the correct answer is the United States, which 40 percent of respondents in the Pew poll selected)
  • 73 percent of Americans could not identify communism as America’s main concern during the Cold War, according to Newsweek, which administered an official citizenship test in 2011 (admittedly, it’s not entirely clear what if any alternative answers — the Soviet Union? Nuclear weapons? — the magazine accepted)
  • 9 percent of Americans frequently worry about becoming a victim of terrorism, according to a 2011 AP-GfK poll (Reason magazine has calculated that the chances of being killed by a terrorist are roughly one in 20 million, and that “in the last five years you were four times more likely to be struck by lightning than killed by a terrorist”)
  • Nearly 25 percent of Americans don’t know that the United States declared its independence from Great Britain, according to a 2011 Marist poll
  • 71 percent of Americans believe Iran already has nuclear weapons, according to a 2010 CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll (Israel, the United States, and the International Atomic Energy Agency would beg to differ)
  • 33 percent of Americans believed Saddam Hussein was personally involved in 9/11 as late as 2007, according to a CBS News/New York Times poll (it’s worth noting that the number was down from 53 percent in 2003, and that more recent polls suggest the percentage has continued to decline since 2007)

As the survey shows, Americans are not that knowledgeable on foreign policy…. I do not look for the debate to break any records for viewership….we as a nation are not that interested in foreign policy……we do like winners and people will watch so that they can say they saw the winner work his magic…….who will win?  YOUR guy!  Whoever that may be.

God!  Will this torment ever end?