The Independent sent a reporter to Nixon’s barometer town to see what residents thought of the war and the economy in the lead up to Dubya’s State of the Union today. Surprisingly, 90% of those questioned were against the war, a large number of them veterans.

Jack Bradley, a Korean War veteran and maverick Republican whom I find braving the frost on his daily morning walk, is even more forthright. “We’re going to go billions of dollars into debt, and to save what? A pile of sand?” he asks. “Korea was the forgotten war, and I’m afraid this war in Iraq will be a forgotten war, too. It will create a massive explosion in the Middle East and only make people more inclined to hate us. If we don’t rein in our imperialist tendencies, I think the US is on the same course as the Roman Empire.”