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September 11, 2008

9/11 Attacks’ influence fading in elections

By Arthur Foulkes

TERRE HAUTE — Ron Moore, an adjunct professor of political science at St. Mary-of-the-Woods College, has more vivid memories of 9/11 than most Americans.

Moore was a civilian employee working at the Pentagon when one of the jets hijacked by terrorists crashed into the building on Sept. 11, 2001.

For several hours after the attacks, Moore could not reach his wife, Sharon Ammen, who was teaching at St. Mary-of-the-Woods in Terre Haute, to let her know he was OK.

Misinformation flying around that morning had Ammen “pretty much convinced that I was a goner,” Moore said. “It was pretty brutal.”

Still, for American voters, the influence and memories of the 9/11 attacks may be fading, local political scientists and election observers say. A joint appearance by presidential candidates Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama today at the site of the former World Trade Center in New York City may mark the end of 9/11 as a partisan political topic.

“I’m pretty optimistic on that point,” Moore said. “Even those who want to scare the population into voting one way or the other really don’t even use 9/11 anymore,” he said.

McCain and Obama issued a statement announcing their meeting at Ground Zero saying they were putting aside politics for the day to renew the unity experienced after 9/11 and to “honor the memory of each and every American who died” in the attacks.

Still, marking the 9/11 anniversary may give a temporary boost to McCain, said Terrence Casey, an associate professor of political science at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. That boost is not likely to last until the November election, Casey said, adding that voters are more concerned about other issues, such as the war in Iraq.

“The question [for the candidates] is really much more, ‘What do you intend to do about those immediate problems?’ rather than looking back on 9/11,” Casey said.

The Sept. 11 attacks did not rally voters in the same way the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor did, said James McDowell, a political science professor at Indiana State University. Voters today are more concerned about other topics, such as the economy, he said.

“Terrorism is not on the back burner, but it’s not in the front of people’s minds so much as the price of oil,” agreed Paul Salstrom, an associate professor of history at St. Mary-of-the-Woods who teaches a course on U.S. elections. “The price of oil and gas is concerning people much more directly” than the 9/11 attacks, he said.

Still, the 9/11 attacks have been mentioned in at least one partisan political setting this campaign season. During the Republican National Convention, President Bush said McCain was the only candidate who understood the “lessons of September 11, 2001.” He also said only McCain has the “judgment, the experience and the policies” to “stay on the offense, stop attacks before they happen and not wait to be hit again.”

All local election observers believe the 9/11 attacks contributed to Bush’s re-election in 2004. According to the Gallup organization, public fear of terrorist attacks were strongest in the first years after 9/11. Today, however, Gallup finds terrorism ranks below energy, the economy and Iraq as topics of importance to the public.

According to a June USA Today/Gallup poll, 56 percent of Americans said they would prefer a president whose greatest strength is “fixing the economy,” compared with 39 percent who would prefer a president whose greatest strength is “protecting the country from terrorism.”

Gallup concluded, “McCain’s No. 1 perceived strength is his ability to handle terrorism, while Barack Obama outperforms McCain on his perceived ability to handle energy prices and the economy.”

For Moore, the memories of 9/11 remain extremely clear. The day after the attacks, at the order of then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, he was back at the Pentagon with his colleagues. Rumsfeld told Defense Department employees to continue to work as if nothing had happened.

“We can’t let the terrorists win,” Rumsfeld told them.

“So basically at 8 a.m. the next morning we’re all there and there’s the smell of oil and smoke and grease. … That memory will never fade for sure,” Moore said.

Moore hopes that politicians will not use 9/11 for partisan purposes, but he also hopes people do not forget what happened that day. “It’s something I think we need to keep in our memory, although it’s getting harder to do,” he said.

Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.

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