Americans Divided Over Mission, Scope, Future in Iraq

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• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  The NewsHour began its Big Picture series last November, as part of our coverage of the 2008 presidential campaign. We wanted to see how important national issues were being played out on the local level.

  We've gone to six states so far and talked with dozens of voters. Our focus was primarily on a variety of economic issues, but the war in Iraq loomed large in most of our discussions.

  So on this fifth anniversary of the war, we brought 10 of those voters from across the country here to Washington to talk about the war and the economy.

  We met Mark Harris during our Colorado discussion on immigration. He's an independent from Grand Junction, where he's a seed farmer.

• MARK HARRIS, Colorado Independent:

  Our border policy on an economic perspective is we've had two signs. And we've had, you know, "Help Wanted" and "Keep Out."

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Christy Rodriguez, a Republican, is a home educator from Greeley, Colorado.

• CHRISTY RODRIGUEZ, Colorado Republican:

  I think that many of the proponents for illegal immigration are really promoting a slave labor economy.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Roberta Berthold, a Democrat, was on our California roundtable discussion about the economy and the housing crisis. She is a mortgage loan officer in Los Angeles.

• ROBERTA BERTHOLD, California Democrat:

  There's another thing floating around Washington right now is to do a big bailout. Why should we have to bail out those investors?

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Lori Staehling, a Republican, is a real estate agent from San Diego.

• LORI STAEHLING, California Republican:

  That is the biggest question I get: When is the bottom of the market? And what I have to tell them over and over — and I really believe it — is we never know when the bottom is until we've gone long past it.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  In Arkansas, Mark McLain talked to correspondent Tom Bearden about the very real impact of globalization. He had lost his job at a Whirlpool plant in Fort Smith last year.

• MARK MCLAIN, Arkansas Independent:

  It's a struggle. Yes, it's a struggle. My wife and I talked about it, and we knew it was going to be a struggle. But we're going to, you know, suck it up and do what it takes and make it work.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  John Maycroft, an independent and a graduate student at Rutgers University, joined our panel on health care in New Jersey.

• JOHN MAYCROFT, New Jersey Independent:

  I'm going to graduate in May. I'm going to have to find a job. And I need to find a job with health care coverage.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Terra Cole talked about spending priorities when we were in Minneapolis. She's an independent who works for Hennepin County.

• TERRA COLE, Minnesota Independent:

  In order to be secure abroad, we need to be secure at home. And what do you do to be secure at home? Make sure that people are fed, make sure that people are housed, make sure that people are educated.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  In our discussions, no matter what the topic, the war in Iraq was a driving force for most voters. Sherine El-Abo, a Republican, is a defense contractor from Clifton, New Jersey.

• SHERINE EL-ABO, New Jersey Republican:

  I'm concerned about the war on terror and how inciting the war on terror we have violated our civil rights here in this country, how our privacy has been intruded and violated, particularly targeting Arab-Americans and Muslims.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Henry Lujan, also a Republican, is an Iraq war veteran. He is a code enforcement officer for the city of Las Vegas.

• HENRY LUJAN, Nevada Republican:

  That country is so vulnerable we cannot leave, because I promise you something right now: If we leave and we pulled out like they said, we will be right back in there.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Verlinda Johnson, a Democrat, works for an Internet service provider and is the treasurer of the Nevada PTA.

• VERLINDA JOHNSON, Nevada Democrat:

  But we need to get out of there. I'm not saying we need to get out of there in a year; I'm not saying we need to get out in two years. But we need a plan of execution.

• HENRY LUJAN:

  I agree.

• VERLINDA JOHNSON:

  Because we went into the war without a plan of execution. There should have been a way when they designed the war for us to get out.