J.I. Packer Interview on Election

What is meant by the phrase "unconditional election"?
Why do we need an election?
Doesn't this detract from our responsibility to respond to the gospel?
If I'm one of the elect, God will save me, and if I'm not, I cannot be saved anyway, so why worry about it?
Isn't foreknowledge the basis of election? Didn't God choose us because he looked down into the future and foresaw that we would believe in him?
Wouldn't it be unfair for God to elect one person to heaven, but then not elect my next-door neighbor?
How essential is this doctrine to our understanding of salvation in general?
Is this something really practical for the Christian and not something that should be left in the seminary classroom for theological debate?
If this doctrine is true, is there any reason to believe that the gospel invitation is genuine?

Read Dr Packer's brief answers to these questions here.