Only 8% Rate National Security as Top Voting Issue
Just eight percent (8%) of voters nationwide currently rate national security issues such as the War on Terror as their top voting issue. That’s down from 20% on Election Day 2008 when Barack Obama was elected and down from 41% on Election Day 2004 when George W. Bush was reelected.
The relative unimportance of national security issues helps explain why President Obama’s overall job approval rating showed little lasting change despite overwhelmingly positive reviews for the mission that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden.
Rasmussen Reports tracking data shows that 46% now rate the economy as their top voting issue, a figure that has remained fairly constant during Obama’s time in office. When Bush was reelected in 2004, just 26% rated the economy as their top issue. The importance of economic issues grew when the recession arrived. Daily consumer tracking shows that the number of Americans who rate their own personal finances as good or excellent has fallen since Obama’s inauguration and even more sharply since the fall of 2008. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
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