To gauge public opinion, we paraphrased the old Ronald Reagan campaign slogan and asked the folks here "are you better off now than you were five years ago?" when President Karzai was first elected?
(voice-over): The reaction was decidedly mixed -- some positive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have had more improvements in Afghanistan in education parts and every kind of development.
PALKOT: But this man says, "The security here is not very good at all. It's getting worse every day." And while this woman complains about high prices, she does admit, "It's better now, because I can come out without a burqa."
All this is making prospects for tomorrow's vote unclear. Deal making with unsavory warlords might get Karzai the blocks of votes he needs, as against those (INAUDIBLE) home base of southern Afghanistan might cost him. With the streets of election day in Kabul emptying for security reasons, Afghan officials are simply hoping there will only be political casualties tomorrow.
In Kabul, Greg Palkot, FOX News.
This report shows the dichotomy and irony of where we are at in Afghanistan. On the one hand, it is a remarkable achievement that an American news caster would have the opportunity to ask such a question. It's even more remarkable that people would answer freely. It's even more remarkable still that one of those people would be a woman. In less than eight years, we've gone from a government that terrorized and ruled over the people to one that is answerable to the people.
On the other hand, Afghanistan continues to be a place with absolutely no security.
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