Iraq War and Public Opinion and Voting Behavior

The months leading up to the 2004 presidential election were filled with commentaries and speculations as to what issues most concerned voters. From a vast array of topics such as health care, employment, social security, taxes, abortion and gay rights, voters at the polls on November 2 proved that what they were most concerned about was safety, thus homeland security and the Iraq war took center stage over all the other societal issues.

Earlier in the year, Vermont Governor Howard Dean's campaign was turning the Iraq war into a potential negative for the Bush-Cheney re-election, however when Kerry pulled ahead of Dean later in the primaries, the pendulum began to swing in favor of the Republicans (Nichols 2004). Why? Because Dean's unconditional opposition to the war "could have been a potent in a face-off with Bush" because one of Dean's strengths was...
[ View Full Essay]