Russian-Americans discuss the American elections in a Russian newspaper

I translated this and then realized that it is not really current or relevant enough for me to even want to put it on Johnson's Russia List. So I figured, why not share it with you, my dear readers? Enjoy.

_____________________________________
The Russian Voice of America
By Olga Zharenova, @ktsiia, Nov. 2004, page 2
[supposedly this publication is available on www.akzia.ru, but I couldn't get the site to open]

On November 2nd the US elected the old president anew. Our former compatriots, Russian emigrants are now American citizens, also went to the polling stations. We got in touch with some of them to find out how they voted and why.

Quite a few of them voted for George Bush, choosing the lesser of two evils and preferring not to change from an elephant to a donkey in midstream. Alexander V., computer programmer, Brooklyn, NY: "Bush is at least a known quantity, and I don't know what to expect from Kerry. Maxim K., partner in a business, Staten Island, NY: "Kerry is a dark horse who could turn out to be unpredictable."

When casting their votes for Bush, Russian-Americans based their decision more on Kerry's shortcomings than on Bush's merits. Roman K., health care worker, Staten Island, NY: "Kerry doesn't have a clear position on any of the issues, and his position on drug legalization is too liberal." Mikhail K., chess coach, Brooklyn, NY: "Kerry has no charisma, he is a weak politician and a strange personality who repels even like-minded Democrats."

The views of those who spoke positively of Bush's policies were all very similar. They were expressed precisely by Grigoriy Z., an engineer from Boston: "Bush's pluses are his security policy and his support for Israel."

For their part, Kerry's supporters explained that their position was based on a desire to be rid of Bush as soon as possible and a negative attitude toward the current president. Dmitrii P., entrepreneur, Waltham, MA: "Bush is someone who didn't play enough war games when he was a kid. He has a strong cabinet, but he's a weak leader." Andrei R., recruiter, Boston: "Bush thinks more about foreign policy than about the country's economy." Pavel K., construction worker, Chicago: "High inflation, unemployment, unjustifiable spending on the war on terrorism, which has put the country in a ridiculous situation: complications even on domestic flights, long lines, humiliating security checks.

When choosing a candidate, foreign policy toward Russia was not a priority issue: Russian-Americans are US citizens, so they are most concerned about domestic policy issues and economic stability. But many of them still have relatives in Russia, so they declared open borders and a friendly attitude toward Russia to be essential. This point was made especially forcefully by the elderly.

Young people in the Russian-speaking community often voted just like their older relatives - the majority of them voted for Bush, although their American peers preferred Kerry. Alexander L., student, Staten Island, NY: "I voted like everyone else in the Russian-speaking community. Kerry is not the right candidate for America, he talked too much in his speeches about gay marriage and other unnecessary things, without making a single proposal to actually improve things. My American friends for the most part voted for Kerry; among young people supporting Bush is considered indecent, and he is unpopular."

We weren't able to find out in greater detail about the votes of our respondents' American acquaintances for one simple reason: asking native-born Americans who they voted for is considered as impolite as asking about their income. That information is confidential. The people we surveyed were also surprised at our interest in their assessment of the fairness of the elections. Regardless of the numerous statements made by international observers, they were of one mind, "Of course they were fair - after all, this isn't Russia!"