Swarthmore Students Speak Out About Election Issues and the Need for Dialogue

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• JIM LEHRER:

  And finally tonight, how this campaign appeared to a group of students at Swarthmore College in suburban Philadelphia. Gwen Ifill talked with them last night.

• GWEN IFILL:

  Welcome, everybody. Thank you for joining us.

• GROUP:

  Thank you very much.

• GWEN IFILL:

  I want to start by asking how many of you cast a vote in this year's midterm elections? Ah, are you satisfied about that, about the choice you had?

• PANELIST:

  Sure.

• PANELIST:

  Absolutely.

• GWEN IFILL:

  A lot of young people say, "No one is talking about anything that interests me." Do you hear elected officials actually talking about things in a way that satisfies you?

• ANNE KOLKER, Democrat:

  Yes, actually, in this particular election, I did. I felt that in previous elections there was not as much actual talk about the issues that I cared about, but I think that, in particular after 2004, the youth of America really proved that we have a voice and we will make ourselves heard.

• KATIE CASSLING, Democrat:

  There are all these issues, in Social Security and the deficit. If we're spending on defense money for our war in Iraq instead of funding education, instead of funding infrastructure, and instead of funding technology, then we're not investing in the future.

• GWEN IFILL:

  Kasie, what are the issues which affect you the most?

• KASIE GROOM, Republican:

  Well, actually, I'm going to have to disagree with Katie a little bit on this. It's true, I believe, the war in Iraq is actually one of the foremost issues on the table today, and basically because, if terrorism is allowed to infiltrate our borders, the other issues — the education, the Social Security — are going to become moot points.

  Those are all issues that absolutely must depend on the safety of our people first, and that's why I believe that the war is one of the main issues today.