People are interested in the things that effect their personal lives. Iraq and immigration do not effect many lives. The public understands that the price of oil is not the president or the Republican's fault.
Polls do not bear out what you assume from reading the media and reading the posts on FR.
Only 25%? That sounds like a lot of people. Immigration will affect more and more Americans as time goes by.
But anyway, I don't necessarily dispute what you say, but that begs the question of why then are poll numbers so dismal for so many Republicans. With a mostly sound, strong economy, why is President Bush struggling to reach 40% approval? Why are there so many vulnerable Republican seats, and apparently so few Democrat ones?
I know some of it is very state specific. Had Burns retired and gotten out of the way for Representative Rehberg, then Montana would be safe. DeWine is suffering from the stink and taint that super-RINO Gov Taft has put on all Republicans in Ohio. But even still, I'm at a bit of a loss to explain why things look so bleak w/o the Iraq and gas factor. With gas prices, I think its not necessarily people buying the Dem line that the oil companies are gouging us because they have Bush in his pocket, but rather that it just puts people in a sour mood, and they want to take it out on someone.
And yeah, I realize that part of the problem with the economy is that the media will not endlessly hype how good it is like they did for Clinton, or would do for any Democrat were they now President.