A war raging thousands of miles away in the Middle East has created fissures at all levels of government here in the U.S., and it’s divided California Democrats. But will it impact how independent and third-party voters tackle the upcoming elections?
To get a glimpse of that answer, we turned to three Orange County independent and third-party voters from different backgrounds — voters we’re following this election cycle as they determine who to support up and down the ballot — about how the Israel-Hamas war is coloring their 2024 perspectives.
While the three all say that foreign policy is further down their list of important issues guiding their 2024 decisions, they want politicians to take an impartial view of the war and for local governments largely to stay out of conversations related to international issues.
That seems to be in line with how most independent or “no party preference” voters feel in California: A recent Public Policy Institute of California poll found a majority of these voters believe the U.S. should not take a side in the Israel-Hamas war.
“On most foreign policy issues, most people don’t have very strong opinions, but out of them, independents probably have the weakest opinions,” said Michael Tesler, an associate professor of political science at UC Irvine.
Abri Magdaleno, a newer voter who leans to the left, said it doesn’t make sense when local politicians focus on international conflict. Local elected officials, Magdaleno said, do not have much influence over what’s going on internationally.
“Their focus should be on…
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