Importance of Issues: Economy Still Top Issue on Voters’ Minds

Rasmussen Reports ^ | August 25, 2011

[Sarabaracuda]

The economy continues to be the number one issue on voters’ minds. At the same time, voter perceptions on the importance of national security and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have fallen to new lows.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 84% of Likely Voters rate the economy as Very Important in terms of how they will vote in the next congressional election. That’s up from 74% in early June and 76% in April. Still, the number of voters who feel this way about the economy has remained fairly consistent since January 2008. (To see survey question wording, click here.) By a 45% to 35% margin, voters trust Republicans more than Democrats on the economy.

Regaining the number two spot in terms of importance is the issue of government ethics and corruption. However, it’s a distant second, with 67% regarding it as Very Important. For several years, government ethics and the economy ran neck-and-neck as the most important issues on voters’ minds. In September of last year, just before the midterm elections, healthcare rose to the number two spot and stayed there prior to the latest survey.

As for health care, 65% say that issue is Very Important come the next congressional election. That finding is down from 79% in early November 2010 and 72% in early April of that year, the first survey conducted after President Obama signed the health care bill into law.

Most voters still favor repeal of the national health care law passed last year, but nearly half of voters who are already insured don’t think the law will force them to change their coverage. Voters are fairly evenly divided in terms of who they trust on this issue.

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The national survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on August 17-18 & 21-22, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Sixty-three percent (63%) of voters nationwide rate the issue of taxes as Very Important in terms of how they will vote in the next congressional election, showing no change from the previous survey. Generally, the number of voters who see this issue as Very Important has remained in the high 50s to low 60s since August 2007.

In a virtual tie in terms of importance are the issues of education and Social Security. Sixty-one percent (61%) regard education as Very Important and 60% feel that way about Social Security. These findings show little change for years now.

Only 46% of voters now view the issue of immigration as Very Important. That’s the lowest level measured since late May 2009.

Even as the Obama administration moves to slow the pace of deportation for illegal immigrants, voters continue to believe strongly that gaining control of the border is more important than legalizing the status of undocumented workers already living in the United States.

When it comes to the War on Terror and national security, just 39% see this issue as Very Important. That’s the lowest level measured yet. Separate polling finds that confidence in the course of the War on Terror, which surged following the killing of Osama bin Laden, continues to fall.

The war in Iraq and Afghanistan fall at the bottom of the list. Just 24% now see the situation in Afghanistan as a Very Important issue, while 21% feel that way about Iraq. These findings, match the lowest levels of importance measured on these issues yet.

Voter confidence about the short-term course of the war in Afghanistan has fallen to its lowest level in nearly two years, while over the next six months has dropped to the lowest point in almost five years of surveying.

Republicans are trusted more than Democrats to handle nine out of 10 of these important issues.