Thursday, March 1, 2007 | 7:08 a.m.
WASHINGTON - As Americans grow weary of the war in Iraq and worry about their own problems with health care and a changing economy, voters are telling pollsters they're more interested than ever in the 2008 presidential election. One Washington think tank hopes to capture that interest by elevating the national debate.
The Brookings Institution, which for 80 years has offered nonpartisan policy analysis, is bringing the expertise of its scholars to a series of panel discussions - possibly including one in Nevada - and to online events. The purpose is to try to keep the political discourse from being waged only in sound bites and to keep media coverage from focusing on the horse race and mudslinging.
Brookings President Strobe Talbott launched the first forum of the Opportunity '08 series Wednesday, saying that while all presidential contests are important, the 2008 election "comes at a time when we especially need new ideas."
With no incumbent president or vice president in the wings for the first time in decades, the contest is drawing a rich field of candidates.
Brookings plans to meet with the candidates and will post its analysis of policy issues online at opportunity08.org. Its partnership with ABC News will allow much of the work to be broadcast. Sun Editor Brian Greenspun serves on the Opportunity '08 bipartisan advisory council.
Brookings spokeswoman Melissa Skolfield said Opportunity '08 is considering holding a forum in Nevada, preferably Las Vegas, this fall or winter. The series is focusing on early primary and caucus states. Nevada's Jan. 19 Democratic caucus is the nation's second contest, sandwiched between Iowa and New Hampshire.
Panelists said Wednesday the nation is hungry for a debate after having become exhausted after six years of the Bush presidency, particularly because the war has not brought the victory Americans were hoping for when they supported the invasion four years ago.
Americans also want answers on worrisome issues such as how they will afford health care and what kind of jobs will be available in the changing global marketplace.
ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, who moderated the day's first panel, noted polls showing two-thirds of Americans are already tuning in to the 2008 elections, showing unexpectedly high interest with 20 months to go before Election Day.
That "says something about the stakes of this election, how engaged the citizenry is already," he said.
"If the country is going to be this engaged in the campaign for this long, how are the candidates going to keep a hold on the (voters') hearts?" he said. One way they can fight voter fatigue, he said, is to "combat that with their ideas."
Judging by the standing room-only crowd at Brookings on Wednesday, voters are ready to listen.
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