48 > 14
A CBS News/NY Times poll released on the 17th says that 48% of voters think "the economy and jobs" is the most important issue in deciding whom to support for President. 14% think "terrorism and national security" is most important, followed by 10% concerned about "gas prices and energy" and 10% worried about "health care". Only 8% of registered voters cited the Iraq war.
Conventional wisdom says that Democrats win when elections are about the economy and Republicans win when elections are about national security (quote from 2008.01.23):
Voter attention is now on the U.S. economy, buffeted by a housing market that is threatening to tip the country into an election-year recession.This is not a reason to get complacent. It is a reason to feel better about the upcoming election.
"If the economy is sliding into a recession that would favor the Democrats," said Andy Smith, political science professor at the University of New Hampshire.
But a campaign about national security would favor Republicans, he said, particularly if Republicans nominate McCain, a former Vietnam prisoner of war and a critic of Bush's handling of the Iraq war.
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